Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Sept. 28, 2020

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

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ABMS Goes to the Pacific in ‘Valiant Shield’
By Rachel S. Cohen

American military forces used a large-scale training exercise in the Pacific
this month to experiment with new ways of commanding troops as part of the Air
Force’s Advanced Battle Management System effort. The Air Force’s third ABMS
demonstration, known as an “on-ramp,” quietly unfolded Sept. 14-25 within
the biennial “Valiant Shield” exercise spanning Hawaii, Guam, and the
Mariana Islands Range Complex. About 11,000 Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine
Corps personnel, 100 aircraft, and several ships participated. As the U.S.
postures against China, the scale and location of Valiant Shield offered a
chance to practice passing surveillance, targeting, and other data between the
services to better respond to threats in the vast Pacific region.

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Gauging Suicide’s Impact on USAF’s Total Force in 2020
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

As the Defense Department prepares to release its Annual Suicide Report in the
coming weeks, Air Force Magazine details the impact suicide has had on the Total
Force so far in 2020, and how the service’s top uniformed leaders and its
reserve component are working to tackle the issue. As of Sept. 16, 98 Total
Force Airmen had taken their own lives in 2020. As of Sept. 22, the Air Force
Reserve had lost eight Airmen to suicide, and as of Sept. 24, the Air National
Guard had lost 11 of its service members to this scourge.

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Fourth GPS III Satellite Heads to Space
By Rachel S. Cohen

Lockheed Martin’s fourth GPS III satellite is scheduled to head to space on a
SpaceX rocket Sept. 29, marking the navigation system’s second launch so far
this year. “It'll be awesome to have four GPS III satellites on orbit. It's a
good start to the Space Force's effort to modernize the space portion of the
entire Global Positioning System,” Tonya Ladwig, acting vice president for
space navigation systems at Lockheed Martin, said on a Sept. 25 call with
reporters. “GPS III provides three times greater accuracy, and up to eight
times improved anti-jamming power over satellites in existing constellations.”
Those more-advanced satellites will comprise more than 12 percent of the GPS
constellation once the fourth system is up and running.

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‘Operation Blood Rain’ Makes Case for a New Kind of Airdrop
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Earlier this year, the Air Force undertook an experiment to see whether fresh
blood could be safely airdropped to medics working in harsh settings. “The
research team determined an airdrop is a viable way of delivering blood to
combat medics treating hemorrhaging patients in a pre-hospital setting,” a
96th Test Wing release stated. “However, further research is required to fully
validate the safety of the method.” The service conducted an airdrop from a
C-145 in April, and the project team now plans to see if it can replicate the
results of that airdrop using different airframes and ground conditions. In the
long term, the group hopes to enable drones to fly blood to deployed combat
medics.

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C-17s Begin Deep Freeze Flights in Antarctica
By Brian W. Everstine

C-17s and Airmen deployed for Operation Deep Freeze have started flying crucial
personnel and equipment into Antarctica for winter flying season. The C-17s,
deployed from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., have flown three missions in
recent weeks, transporting 151 personnel and 165,000 pounds of cargo to McMurdo
Station, according to a Pacific Air Forces release. Airmen quarantined for two
weeks before flying in to keep Antarctica the last continent on the globe free
of COVID-19. Operation Deep Freeze is the military’s 65-year mission to
support National Science Foundation research in Antarctica. The mission’s
season typically begins in early August, with the busiest part running from
September to November.

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USAF Orders NP2000 Propeller Systems for Guard, Reserve C-130Hs
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Air Force recently chose Collins Aerospace Systems, a Raytheon Technologies
subsidiary, to provide NP2000 propeller systems for 30 Air National Guard and
Air Force Reserve C-130H aircraft, the company announced Sept. 14. “With its
eight composite blades and digital Electronic Propeller Control System (EPCS),
NP2000 offers a number of benefits compared to legacy systems including: a 20
percent thrust increase during take-off, a 20db sound reduction in the cockpit,
and a 50 percent reduction in maintenance man-hours,” a company press release
stated. The Air Force aims to equip about 160 of its C-130Hs with the
cutting-edge propeller system, and has ordered 55 systems to date.

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Virtual Events: Mitchell Institute Rolls Out New Policy Paper, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On Oct. 1, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
will host a virtual rollout of its latest policy paper, “Understanding the
Promise of Skyborg and Low-Cost Attritable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” by
retired USAF Col. Mark Gunzinger, the think tank's director of future Concepts
and capability assessments, and Lukas Autenried, a senior analyst there. Event
video will tentatively be posted to the think tank's <a
href="[link removed]">website</a> and <a
href="[link removed]">YouTube page</a>
afterward.

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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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Boeing Nabs $2.2 Billion Contract for Small Diameter Bomb I Production

The agreement will have a five-year ordering period and provide munitions,
containers, and carriages for Defense Department and foreign military sale
customers, according to a contract notice the Pentagon released Sept. 24.
Foreign customers include Australia, Belgium, Israel, Japan, Korea, the
Netherlands, and Norway.

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U.S. Space Command Announces Improvements in Space Debris Tracking

The 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is now
providing “more meaningful” data on approximately 25,000 space objects.

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Senate Skeptical of F-35 Sale to UAE Despite White House Push

A top State Department official on Sept. 24 skirted answering questions over the
Trump administration’s possible sale of F-35s to the UAE in the face of
bipartisan Senate concern over Israel’s continued military superiority in the
region.

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Air Force Eyes Big Staff Sergeant Promotion Supplemental Due to Pandemic

The Air Force Personnel Center said Sept. 24 that about 15 percent of Airmen and
space professionals eligible for promotion to staff sergeant will be considered
for supplemental promotion this year, which is tentatively scheduled for the
second week in October. That’s a much greater percentage than the 5 to 8
percent of promotion-eligible Airmen typically considered for supplemental
promotion.

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Area 51 Has a Huge New Hangar Facility That Points to a Drone Swarm Future

The Air Force is accelerating its advanced combat drone development efforts and
the facility's unique attributes seem perfect for supporting them.The Air Force
is accelerating its advanced combat drone development efforts and the facility's
unique attributes seem perfect for supporting them.

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Berger: Marines ‘Not Giving Up’ on Large Ship-Based Drones

The Marine Corps’ top leader said Sept. 24 that although the service is not
presently working on a large amphibious ship-based drone, it is not completely
putting the brakes on the effort. “We're not giving up on a shipboard UAV by
any stretch of the imagination, but we had to make a decision, ... do we
continue moving quickly now with what's near term, that will help us learn, and
move towards technologically what is needed?” Marine Corps Commandant Gen.
David H. Berger said during a webinar hosted by Defense One.

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The Latest on JADC2

Joint all-domain command and control is redefining how the U.S. military will
operate in the future joint fight—and how systems must be designed today. For
the latest on all things JADC2 and to stay tuned to the latest developments,
check out our JADC2 landing page.

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Marines Weigh Closing Parris Island and San Diego to Open New Coed Boot Camp

The Marine Corps is considering a plan in which it could close its two existing
boot camp locations and funnel all recruits to a new base where men and women
would train together.

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22 Die in Ukraine Military Plane Crash

A Ukrainian military plane carrying aviation school students crashed and burst
into flames on Sept. 25 while landing, killing 22 people, the country’s
emergencies service said. Two other people on board were seriously injured and
four people were missing. The An-26 crashed while landing at the airport in
Chuhuiv, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital Kyiv.

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One More Thing...
Listen to Three B-52s Discussing Their “Gameplan” for Landing after Black Sea and Astral Knight Missions

One of the BUFFs used radio callsign “LEMAY 35”, which appears to be a
tribute to famed Strategic Air Command boss Gen. Curtis E. LeMay.

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