Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for April 23, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

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Microelectronics Bump Hypersonics as DOD’s Top Tech Priority
By John A. Tirpak

The Pentagon has shifted its top priority from hypersonics to microelectronics,
because the latter technology is an element of almost all weapon systems, and
the U.S. is "in danger" of losing superiority in this area, said Mark Lewis, the
head of defense research and engineering modernization, in a AFA Mitchell
Institute live-streamed event April 22. Hypersonics remains important, though,
and Lewis promoted air-breathing missiles in addition to rocket-boosted types as
both having a role to play in service portfolios.

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Goldfein: USAF Expects to Operate Under Pandemic Conditions At Least a Year
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force is bracing for a year or more of adapting to the COVID-19
pandemic, adjusting its operating tempo and procedures under a new "reset"
expected June 1, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said April 22. He's not
seeing any major programs faltering due to the pandemic, but is talking with
other services and air chiefs about collaborating to help their respective
defense industrial bases weather the economic storm. “We’re going to be
living with this virus, and the potential for it to come back in some cyclical
way is likely,” Goldfein said. The “good news,” is that the “ability to
survive and operate ... is part of our DNA,” and the pandemic is an
opportunity to refresh that training, he added.

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Empowering Disaster Response and Recovery From Space
When a natural disaster or emergency occur, an immediate and seamless response is necessary to
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If critical infrastructure is down in the disaster zone, then the systems and networks required for
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communication needs. Read the full story.
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USAF Embraces ‘Telemental Health’ Amid Pandemic
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Air Force is expanding access to remote mental health support and offering
resources to help members deal with the stresses of coping with social isolation
and the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't seen an uptick [in requests for help], but
I am very, very aware that might be something that a lot of people are
struggling with—even in individuals who weren't struggling before,” USAF
Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Dorothy Hogg said in an April 22 interview.

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DOD Implements Tiered Approach to COVID-19 Testing
By Brian W. Everstine

The Pentagon is adjusting its COVID-19 testing policy, with a new emphasis on
screening service members in its highest priority missions in addition to
diagnosing troops who are already sick. As the new coronavirus outbreak spread,
the Defense Department used its limited testing resources to confirm cases as
they popped up. With an expected increase in testing capability and materials in
the coming weeks, the military is also going to test its personnel on a tiered
approach, starting with those in “critical” missions like nuclear
deterrence, followed by troops who are deployed for contingency operations, Vice
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten said April 22.

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USAF Testing Rapidly Developed System to Fly Infectious Patients
By Brian W. Everstine

A joint Air Force team on April 21 delivered a rapidly developed containment
system prototype that will enable as many as 28 COVID-positive patients to be
transported aboard a C-17. The team, led by the Air Force Life Cycle Management
Center and the Air Force’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear
Defense Systems Branch, responded to an Urgent Operational Need request for a
transport to carry dozens of patients within weeks. The Negatively Pressurized
Conex system cost about $2 million to develop. It was delivered to Joint Base
Charleston, S.C., for testing and possible fielding by the end of next month.

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USAF Nears Launch of Tenant Bill of Rights
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force is finalizing measures meant to help its families as it nears a
May 1 goal for putting the Pentagon’s new Tenant Bill of Rights into full
effect. Military officials had more work to do to implement tenant protections
even as they signed the Bill of Rights in late February. Last month, the service
issued an updated, 252-page guidance document that is now the governing policy
for Air Force family housing. The Tenant Bill of Rights aims to protect military
families from private landlords that poorly manage base housing, leading to
problems ranging from mold to rodents to safety code violations.

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Radar Sweep

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Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding
to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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IRGC Reveals Secret Space Program in Satellite Launch

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched its first satellite into space on April
22, dramatically revealing what experts described as a secret military space
program that could advance its ballistic missile development amid wider tensions
between the Islamic Republic and the U.S.

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Trump Says He's Instructed Navy to 'Destroy' Any Iranian Gunboats Harassing U.S. Ships

President Trump said April 22 that he's instructed the U.S. Navy to "shoot down
and destroy" any Iranian gunboats harassing American ships, in the wake of a
tense encounter in the Persian Gulf.

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Battle for NRO Takes Shape as Space, Air Forces Grapple with Acquisition

As the Defense Department struggles to decide how broad the new Space Force’s
buying powers should be, the future of the builder and operator of America’s
spy satellites, the National Reconnaissance Office, is now uncertain. Insiders
say the wisdom of maintaining the long-standing and often hard-fought split
between “black” and “white” space is once again being questioned.

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'Disruptive' Missile Defense Technologies Sought

The Missile Defense Agency is asking industry for ideas on potential "disruptive
technologies," seeking white papers by the end of June on new ways to improve
defending against ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats.

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Lockheed Looks to Sell Additional F-16s to Customers in Africa, Asia, and South America

Lockheed Martin anticipates another wave of international F-16 sales, with
countries from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia among those interested
in purchasing the jet, the company’s chief financial officer said April 21.

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Millennium Space Delivers Smallsat for Upcoming U.S. Space Force Rideshare Mission

Millennium Space Systems, based in El Segundo, Calif., has completed the
development and integration of a cubesat scheduled to be launched to
geosynchronous orbit later this year on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rideshare mission
for the U.S. Space Force, the company announced April 21. Called Tetra-1, the
microsatellite was the first project awarded in 2018 by the U.S. Space Force’s
Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Enterprise Consortium.

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Support for Full Withdrawal from Afghanistan Grows: Poll

Nearly three-quarters of veterans surveyed and almost 70 percent of troops’
family members support a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
according to a new poll from a conservative activist group released April 22.

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One More Thing...
Pentagon Plans to Dispatch Blue Angels and Thunderbirds in Coronavirus Tribute

The Pentagon is planning a multicity tour of the U.S. military’s top flight
demonstration teams to “champion national unity” amid the coronavirus
pandemic, according to defense officials and a memo obtained by The Washington
Post. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, the demonstration squadrons for the
Navy and Air Force, will fly over some cities together and others separately,
according to the memo. The flyovers will take place in the next several weeks
“to thank first responders, essential personnel, and military service members
as we collectively battle the spread of COVID-19.”

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