Hinote: ‘Hard Choices Ahead’ | F-35 Deliveries Delayed | 3 Air Guardsmen Killed in Civilian Plane Crash

Sept. 11, 2020

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

Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, speaks during a Sept. 10, 2020, session of a virtual conference hosted by Defense News. Defense News video screenshot.

‘Future Games’ Exercise to Feature Swarming Drones, Palletized Munitions

By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force is gearing up for “Future Games” later this month, which will explore new concepts and capabilities not already in the service's toolbox to help design the future force. Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements, said the latest iteration will feature palletized munitions, swarming UAVs, and scrutiny of the kill chain. It will also test some command and control concepts. Hinote said Airmen and “outside stakeholders” should brace for cuts to existing systems that are “good, ... that work,” in order to make room for new systems needed to stay abreast of world competitors.

Lockheed Martin Hopes to Catch Up On F-35 Deliveries Delayed by COVID-19 by 2023

By John A. Tirpak

Due to pandemic-related slowdowns, Lockheed Martin expects to deliver 122 F-35s in calendar year 2020—20 less than planned, company executive vice president for aeronautics Michele A. Evans said in a Sept. 9 interview. The tally will be gradually made up over two years, in order to avoid driving production capacity higher and then throttling it back. The program is near its planned maximum efficient rate. The company is striving to maintain the unit price even with Block 4 improvements added, but it's not yet clear if it can continue to drive the unit price lower. Evans also said she doesn't expect an F-35 Performance-Based Logistics contract until next year.

3 Airmen with the Tennessee Guard’s 118th Wing Die in Small Plane Crash

By Brian W. Everstine

Three Airmen with the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 118th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group died Sept. 8 in a small aircraft crash near McMinnville, Tenn. The Airmen are: Lt. Col. Shelli Huether, the director of operations of the 118th Intelligence Support Squadron; Capt. Jessica Wright, the assistant director of operations for the 118th ISS; and Senior Master Sgt. Scott Bumpus, the chief of current operations for the 236th Intelligence Squadron. “Words can not begin to explain the shock, grief, pain, and dismay we feel having lost three remarkable members of our Guard family,” 118th Wing Commander Col. Todd A. Wiles said in a statement.

Roper Argues for More Artificial Intelligence Collaboration, Funding

By Rachel S. Cohen

Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper on Sept. 10 made the case for closer collaboration between military services on artificial intelligence, saying the Pentagon must get the groundwork right in order to successfully expand so-called “smart” information technology across the department. “To really make AI real you have to do a lot of work that is not the glitzy algorithms doing cool things at the edge,” Roper said during a Pentagon-run AI conference. “You have to lay in the infrastructure.” Roper wants to pursue “AI as a service,” another iteration of the Air Force’s push in recent years to contract out business services.

US Forces Korea Aircrews Forced to Go Off Peninsula for Live-Fire Qualification

By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. forces in South Korea have not conducted theater-level exercises on the Korean Peninsula for about two years now, and pilots must leave the country for live-fire training, but the head of U.S. Forces Korea said Sept. 10 his readiness remains high despite the challenges. The U.S. military suspended bilateral exercises with South Korea following the June 2018 summit between President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Since then, USFK has kept its bilateral, strategic-level training focused on table-top events, with local units flying and conducting smaller level training. This has forced commanders to get creative in these training events to try to maintain readiness and interoperability with South Korea, USFK boss Army Gen. Robert B. Abrams said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar.

Virtual Events: AFA’s Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference

By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference kicks off Sept. 14 with Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett and Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. The annual conference, which will be held virtually this year for the first time, runs through Sept. 16. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond speaks on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Conference attendance is free for military members and defense civilians, and rates for industry participants are discounted for AFA members (and from traditional rates for in-person participants). Registration is open now and space is limited, so early sign-ups are encouraged.

Radar Sweep

Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Air Force Magazine

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

In a Year of Restrictions, Virus Changes Sept. 11, Too

The Associated Press

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic has reshaped countless American rituals, even the commemoration of 9/11 could not escape unchanged.

Pentagon Acquisition Chief Hints Section 889 Supply Chain Waiver May Be Extended

Nextgov

The Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are discussing extending a waiver that gives the defense industrial base more time to ensure certain noncritical weapons systems comply with a new rule aimed at excising Chinese telecommunications equipment from the supply chain, according to the Defense Department’s acquisition chief.

Pentagon to Pit AI Against Human Pilots in Live Fighter Trials

C4ISRNET

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Sept. 9 that the Pentagon intends to conduct live trials pitting tactical aircraft controlled by artificial intelligence against human pilots in 2024. The announcement comes three weeks after an AI algorithm defeated a human pilot in a simulated dogfight between F-16s, something Esper described as an example of the “tectonic impact of machine learning” for the Defense Department’s future.

The First Members of Space Force Just Deployed to the Middle East

Military.com

The U.S. Space Force has marked another milestone for the history books: the first official deployment of its troops—and it's not to the moon.

Gardner Co-Founds Space Force Caucus

Colorado Politics

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) is among a bipartisan group of four western lawmakers that has established a U.S. Senate Space Force Caucus to raise awareness of the operations of the newest branch of the military, established last year.

Northrop Grumman to Terminate OmegA Rocket Program

SpaceNews

Northrop Grumman announced it will not move forward with the development of the OmegA rocket. The vehicle was designed for the sole purpose of competing for a National Security Space Launch contract award but didn’t make the cut.

Mitchell Institute Strategic Deterrence Forum: Moshe Patel, Director, IMDO

Mitchell Institute on YouTube

On a Sept. 9 missile defense-focused installment of the AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies' Strategic Deterrence Forum, Moshe Patel, Director and General Manager of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), discussed the missions and priorities of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization, U.S.-Israeli collaboration on missile defense, and the increasingly challenging threat environment, among other topics.

One More Thing

That Time Boeing Wanted to Turn the 747 Jumbo Jet Into an Aircraft Carrier

Popular Mechanics

In the 1970s, Boeing worked on a project that would have turned jumbo jets into flying aircraft carriers. The Airborne Aircraft Carrier project involved converting the Boeing 747, the largest passenger jet flying at the time, into a mothership capable of launching tiny fighter jets. Although never built, the concept lives on in spirit in DARPA’s new “Gremlins” drone program.