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Oct. 15, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
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 An F-15E carries a StormBreaker® smart weapon during a test exercise near White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Raytheon Technologies photo. |
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By Amy McCullough
The F-15E Strike Eagle can now carry the Small Diameter Bomb II in combat, after software faults and other problems repeatedly delayed the program for years. Air Combat Command approved Raytheon Technologies’ air-launched, precision-guided munition, also known as StormBreaker, for use on Sept. 23. The F-15E is the first aircraft cleared to fly with SDB II, with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet next in line.
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By Rachel S. Cohen
The Air Force said Oct. 13 it plans to choose a long-range radar in early 2021 to replace the aging AN/TPS-75, an effort that has been underway for several years. Late last month, the service held live-fly demonstrations to vet radars offered by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and the Australian firm CEA. The Air Force did not say what those trials entailed, but it plans to analyze the results through the end of 2020 and issue a production contract next year. It's unclear how much that will cost.
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
Eighth Fighter Wing Commander Col. Chris B. Hammond and Chief Master Sgt. Ronnie J. Woods, the wing’s command chief, have created a multi-year plan to improve the state of on-base living at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, they told Air Force Magazine. “We're here for a year, but we're approaching things with a 10-year outlook, and that 10-year outlook includes all of our dorms and making sure that they are renovated, [and] that they are worthy of our Airmen's ability to live,” Hammond said in a Zoom interview from the base. The “Kunsan Dorm Master Plan” outlines the tentative demolition of the base’s already-condemned Building 609, construction of a new dorm that’s slated to begin in 2025, and fixes to the others.
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By Rachel S. Cohen
Oklahoma-based CymSTAR will build the Air Force’s first training simulator for the E-4B “Doomsday” planes at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., the service said Oct. 14. The four 1970s-era National Airborne Operations Center jets act as flying command centers in case the Air Force’s underground nuclear missile control posts are destroyed. Without a simulator, E-4B aircrews have to pull the planes from regular operations for training, or travel out of state to use a commercial Boeing 747 simulator. The new training equipment should be delivered in April 2022.
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
On Oct. 16, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a Space Power Forum featuring Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman. The think tank will tentatively post event video on its website and YouTube page.
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Radar Sweep
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Speaker Sessions from AFA’s vASC Now Available
Air Force Magazine
Now you can view video and transcripts from the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, including an adapted version of Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Will Roper’s talk on “Disruptive Agility for a Disruptive World.”
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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.
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SpaceX to Explore Ways to Provide Weather Data to US Military
SpaceNews
The $2 million contract is to “assess the feasibility and long-term viability of a weather data as a service business model.”
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Northrop Names Jones to Lead Aeronautics Systems
Inside Defense
Tom Jones will succeed Janis Pamiljans, who plans to retire Feb. 26.
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Uptick in Spending Seen for Directed Energy Weapons
National Defense Magazine
Armed forces around the world are expected to boost investment in directed energy weapons such as lasers and high-powered microwaves over the next decade as the technology matures, a new study forecasts.
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Journey to JADC2
Air Force Magazine
Joint all-domain command and control is driving change throughout the Air and Space Forces. Read our latest on the quest for greater interconnectedness across the battlefield.
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China Conducts Test of Massive Suicide Drone Swarm Launched from a Box on a Truck
The Drive
China recently conducted a test involving a swarm of loitering munitions, also often referred to as suicide drones, deployed from a box-like array of tubular launchers on a light tactical vehicle and from helicopters. This underscores how the drone swarm threat, broadly, is becoming ever-more real and will present increasingly serious challenges for military forces around the world in future conflicts.
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SCOTUS Military Rape Case Hinges on How ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment’ Applies to Troops
Military Times
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Oct. 13 in a case that, on its face, would decide whether the military can prosecute rape cases that occurred between 1986 and 2006. That was a time when military legal precedent called for a five-year statute of limitations on rape charges.
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6 Months After Vanessa Guillén’s Disappearance and Death, Army Changes How Missing Soldiers Are Reported
Task and Purpose
In a new action plan sent out to Army leaders on Oct. 13—which was obtained by Task & Purpose and details the service’s path forward on its new number one priority, people—Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville, and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston say new guidance on reporting missing Soldiers will be released in “the coming weeks.”
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Marine Battalion Commander Fired after Amphibious Vehicle Accident Killed 9 Near San Diego
Los Angeles Times
Lt. Col. Michael Regner, commanding officer of Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, was relieved due to a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command as a result of the assault amphibious vehicle mishap,” according to a statement.
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Camouflaged as Polling Workers, National Guard Presence During Primaries Fuels Worries of Militarized Presidential Election
The War Horse
Election officials are already sounding alarms that they may face a shortage of poll workers—who tend to be retirees and at higher risk for complications from COVID-19—come Nov. 3. Add to that fears of voter suppression as the President has urged tens of thousands of supporters to act as “poll watchers,” as well as concerns that protests or political demonstrations might interrupt voting, and Wisconsin’s move to activate its National Guard may predict a trend for a national election for a country in the grip of a pandemic.
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One More Thing
Project Iceworm: America’s Secret Nuke Tunnels Beneath Greenland’s Ice
Sandboxx News
In pursuit of nuclear deterrence, the United States has occasionally crossed over the line into schemes seemingly more appropriate for a James Bond movie than the defense budget, but few were as crazy as Project Iceworm.
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