Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for May 21, 2020

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Edited by Brian W. Everstine with Rachel S. Cohen and John A. Tirpak

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Eglin F-35A Crashes Upon Landing, Pilot Ejects
By Brian W. Everstine

An F-35A from the 58th Fighter Squadron crash-landed late May 19 at Eglin Air
Force Base, Fla., according to the 33rd Fighter Wing. The pilot safely ejected.
The crash marks Eglin's second recent fifth-generation jet mishap, following the
May 15 crash of an F-22 assigned to the base. The F-35A crashed around 9:30 p.m.
after a routine night training sortie, the fighter wing said on Facebook. The
pilot was in stable condition and went to Eglin's 96th Medical Group for
evaluation and monitoring. No civilian property was damaged in the crash, which
will be formally investigated.

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Some Air Force Missions Could Grow Under Bigger Budget
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force wants to add more Airmen for space, sensing, command and control,
and logistics, if upcoming military budgets let the service grow, Vice Chief of
Staff Gen. Stephen “Seve” Wilson said May 20. Wilson also said plans for a
larger bomber force will firm up within a year, that the other services will
have to justify their long-range strike spending, and that he is cautiously
optimistic that mission-capable rates or similar readiness measures will
continue to improve. Speaking during an online Mitchell Institute for Aerospace
Studies event, Wilson said the service plans to focus on staffing the most
urgent areas first as it builds toward 386 operational squadrons—the so-called
“Force We Need."

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Space Leaders Plan for Missile Defense, Daily Ops
By Rachel S. Cohen

Space stakeholders are moving forward with a new plan for missile defense,
warning, and tracking after a Pentagon-wide review meant to align the work of
multiple DOD agencies. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond
told reporters during a May 20 Defense Writers Group event that officials
briefed the high-level Joint Requirements Oversight Council on the findings a
few weeks ago. The JROC approved the bulk of that blueprint, Raymond said. The
idea is to figure out who takes responsibility for the overall missile defense
enterprise, decide what overlap works and what doesn’t, and how to buy the
various systems.

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DOD Outlines Criteria for Bases to Lower Health Protection Levels
By Brian W. Everstine

Military commanders may begin lowering health protection conditions and
returning to more regular operations if their location meets certain criteria,
like a two-week downturn in the number of coronavirus cases, Defense Secretary
Mark Esper said in May 20 guidance to the armed forces. Most U.S. military
installations across the globe have been at health protection condition
“Charlie,” the second-highest level, as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.

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USAF Releases B-52 Engine Replacement RFP, Award Expected July 2021
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has released its final request for proposals on the B-52
Commercial Engine Replacement Program, which seeks to replace the bomber's
1960s' vintage engines with new ones that will carry the plane to its 2050s
retirement. The Air Force wants responses next month, expects to award a
contract in a year, and will be converting airplanes well into the 2030s.

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USAF Solicitation Offers Seed Money for Skyborg
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force is getting its Skyborg wingman drone program underway, reaching
out to industry for technology that could head to a future experimentation
campaign. Multiple companies could each win $400 million to contribute
technology toward a best-of-breed Skyborg drone, the service said in a May 15
solicitation. Skyborg is envisioned as an artificially intelligent unmanned
partner for fighter jets that is cheaper than more complex aircraft but can take
on some strike and intelligence-collection missions for human pilots. The Air
Force indicated that companies whose designs aren’t initially chosen could
still be wrapped into the program later. It also creates a stepping stone to a
more advanced kind of aircraft: Later solicitations could look for a
“prototype of a full autonomous system” as well as new sensors and mission
software.

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Space Officials Woo Intelligence Airmen
By Rachel S. Cohen

New opportunities will open up for intelligence Airmen who opt to join the Space
Force, intel officials said on a recent livestream. The Space Force is
considering how Airmen could work in multiple career fields to broaden their
understanding of the space domain, according to Col. Suzy Streeter, the
service’s ISR director. Building the new service from scratch allows it to
shake up its leadership echelons and let intel professionals hold command
positions usually taken by the Airmen who operate satellites, U.S. Space Command
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance boss Brig. Gen. Leah Lauderback
added.

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Ellsworth B-1s, Swedish Gripens Partner for First Time
By Brian W. Everstine

B-1Bs from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., integrated with Swedish Gripens for
the first time during a long-distance bomber task force sortie to Europe that
included fighter jets from multiple allied countries. The two B-1s, supported by
a U.S. Air Force KC-135 from RAF Mildenhall, England, and a Dutch KDC-10 from
Royal Netherlands Air Force Eindhoven Air Base, conducted close-air support
training in Sweden at Vidsel Range, according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe
release.

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Air Force Opens Up F-15EX Engine Award for Competition
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has launched its competition for engines to power the F-15EX,
after initial plans to simply award the contract to GE Aviation. The AIr Force
wants 461 engines to be delivered at a maximum rate of six per month, ending
with final deliveries in 2030. To compete, Pratt & Whitney will have to
integrate its F100 powerplant with the F-15EX's digital flight control systems.

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Virtual Events: CMSI Explores COVID-19’s Impact on the Military, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Today, the COVID-19 Military Support Initiative will host an online town hall
from 3 p.m.-4 p.m. EDT exploring the pandemic's impact on the U.S. military's
future. You can learn more or register for the event <a
href="[link removed]">here</a>.

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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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DOD Civilians Offered Emergency Leave If They or Family Members Are Sick from Coronavirus

Defense Department civilians can take up to two weeks of paid emergency leave if
they or a family member are affected by the coronavirus, the Army said this
week. Civilians are eligible if they are under government orders to quarantine
or if they have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine, the
Army said in a May 18 statement. The new emergency leave category is separate
from sick leave and is authorized through Dec. 31.

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Joint Base Charleston Delivers Russia-Bound Ventilators

A Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina C-17 Globemaster III, today, picked up
50 USAID-provided ventilators at March Air Reserve Base, Calif. and delivered
them to Dover Air Force Base, Del. The mission is the first leg of a USAID
mission to deliver 200 ventilators this month to Moscow.

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Edwards AFB’s Active April Demonstrates Continued Test Operations During COVID-19 Conditions

While the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the nation, including
Edwards AFB and surrounding communities, the 412th Test Wing has maintained an
operational tempo that rivals pre-virus days, despite geographically separated
teams and reduced manning. The 412th TW has continued operations through the
adoption of dynamic processes and innovative techniques.

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AFA Embraces Space Force in New Mission Statement

“Just a few months ago, Congress and the President created this new Space
Force, bringing it forth out of the Air Force, just as the Air Force was raised
up out of the Army 73 years before,” said Air Force Association Chairman and
retired Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Gerald Murray. “Now, as
thousands of Airmen begin the process of transferring into the Space Force, we
are making clear that AFA fully embraces every one of the 15,000 or more
professionals who will eventually make up this great Space Force. Whether they
come from the Air Force, the Army, Navy, or elsewhere, we welcome them with open
arms and a steadfast commitment to fight and advocate for their every need.”

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Air Force Says Space Development Agency Should Be in the Space Force Now, Not Later

Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett is pushing back on a Defense Department
proposal that would delay transferring the Space Development Agency to the Space
Force until October 2022. In a May 6 memo to the Office of the Secretary of
Defense, Barrett said the Space Development Agency—which is currently a
Pentagon agency under the undersecretary of defense for research and
engineering—should be part of the Space Force “as soon as possible.”

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House Panel to Hold Private Ligado Call with FCC and Defense Officials

The House Armed Services Committee will host a private briefing on May 21,
featuring representatives of both the Federal Communications Commission and the
Defense Department, to discuss the ongoing fight over Ligado, C4ISRNET has
learned. Scheduled to appear are Dana Deasy, the Pentagon’s chief information
officer, who has taken the lead on the Ligado issue; Gen. Jay Raymond, chief of
space operations for the U.S. Space Force; Charles Mathias, associate bureau
chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; and Ron Repasi, acting
chief engineer with the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology.

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Commerce Slashes Restrictions On Remote Sensing Sats

After a year of interagency wrangling, the Commerce Department today announced
streamlined rules for commercial remote sensing satellites that lift many
restrictions on radar imaging, night-time imaging, and short-wave infrared
imaging.

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B-1 Bomber May Become the New Face of U.S. Military Power in the Pacific

The Air Force's B-1B Lancer bomber is about to move front and center in the U.S.
military's power-projection mission in the Pacific. As part of its mission
"reset" for the B-1 fleet, the Air Force is not only making its supersonic
bombers more visible with multiple flights around the world, it's also getting
back into the habit of having them practice stand-off precision strikes in the
Pacific, a dramatic pivot following years of flying close-air support missions
in the Middle East.

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Pentagon's Top R&D Chief Throws Cold Water on Laser Missile Defense Aspirations

The Defense Department’s top official in charge of overseeing advanced
research and development activities has said he does not believe it is feasible,
at least at present, for an aircraft to carry a laser that would be sufficiently
powerful to shoot down "an adversary missile." Under Secretary of Defense for
Research and Engineering Mike Griffin appeared to be speaking about ongoing work
on drones equipped with laser directed energy weapons for ballistic missile
defense, raising questions about whether those efforts have hit significant
hurdles.

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Faster Acquisition

The Air Force is leveraging emerging technologies and new legislation to
accelerate acquisition decisions and streamline sustainment. Read more here.

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Air Force and DISA Working to Secure Off-the-Shelf Phones with Specialized Cases

The Air Force and the Defense Information Systems Agency are currently testing
phone and tablet cases that combine physical security—like coverings for
cameras—and electronic methods, like having built-in biometric authentication
and signal jamming. The program could allow military personnel to keep their
phones with them in secure facilities that usually shun mobile devices, while
helping to secure their communications when they’re just out and about.

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One More Thing...
Someone Taped Steve Carell’s Picture over the Space Force’s Top Officer at the USAF Museum

A photo taken at the Ohio museum that first surfaced on Reddit revealed a
superimposed—with Scotch tape—photo on top of where Chief of Space
Operations Gen. Jay Raymond’s official photo should be. The replacement? None
other than Gen. Mark R. Naird, Steve Carell’s character in the upcoming
Netflix workplace comedy series, “Space Force”—an obvious nod to President
Donald Trump’s launch of the U.S. military’s newest branch.

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