Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Nov. 25, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen and Brian W. Everstine

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Editor’s Note

The Air Force Association will close Nov. 26-27 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The next Daily Report will be in your inbox on Monday, Nov. 30.

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USAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office to Oversee ABMS Development, Procurement
By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office will serve as the program executive
office for the Advanced Battle Management System, which looks to connect sensors
and shooters in real time. The move means the Air Force is ready to move toward
buying systems and proving that its ABMS strategy is working, said Will Roper,
the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, in a Nov. 24 briefing
with reporters. “This is the graduation in ABMS, and there will be a future
graduation when we get ABMS fielded,” he said.

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10 Companies Win Joint US, UK Space Pitch Day Contracts
By Rachel S. Cohen

Ten companies from four countries won seed money for innovative projects to
improve military space technology at the first International Space Pitch Day,
hosted online by the United States and United Kingdom, the U.S. Space Force said
Nov. 23. Since early 2019, the U.S. Air Force has held “Shark Tank”-style
pitch days where companies try to nab military funding after a short
presentation and the swipe of a Pentagon credit card. The first space-centric
pitch day came in November 2019, followed by this inaugural, multinational event
a year later on Nov. 16.

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DOD Deploying Medical Personnel, More on Standby As COVID-19 Cases Surge
By Brian W. Everstine

The Defense Department deployed dozens of medical personnel to two states and
one territory to bolster civilian medical facilities battling COVID-19, and
hundreds more remain on standby as the pandemic surges. Sixty-seven Air Force
nurses and other personnel deployed to hospitals and long-term care facilities
in North Dakota, while 62 medical personnel deployed to three hospitals in El
Paso, Texas, and a critical care team is operating out of a hospital in Guam.
DOD personnel also are helping with telemedicine on the island, said Kenneth R.
Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global
security, in a Nov. 24 briefing. In addition, there are hundreds of personnel on
prepare-to-deploy orders, and more than 20,000 National Guardsmen deployed
across 52 states and territories to help with the response, he said.

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Pentagon Begins Transition to Biden Administration
By Brian W. Everstine

Defense Department officials have started meeting with President-elect Joe
Biden's representatives after the Government Services Administration on Nov. 23
made government resources available to begin the transition. Washington
Headquarters Services Director Thomas M. Muir, in a Nov. 24 briefing, told
reporters that while the initial meetings between the agency review team and
Defense Department leaders have been via teleconference, the Pentagon has set
aside space for the team to come in and start working.

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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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Air Force Special Ops Must ‘Ruthlessly’ Cut Legacy Systems, 3-Star General Says

"One thing that's clear to us is that the future doesn't look a lot like the
present to us," Lt. Gen. James Slife, head of Air Force Special Operations
Command, said in a virtual discussion with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.

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US Air Force to Reorganize Network, Security Groups Under Single Entity

This spring, the service is conducting an experiment in which it will collapse
the 690th Cyberspace Operations Group—focused on network operations—the 26th
Cyber Operations Group—focused on security operations—and the 38th
Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group into a single entity, according to
Col. Joshua Rockhill, commander of the 26th Cyberspace Operations Group, who
spoke Nov. 18 during a virtual presentation as part of an AFCEA Alamo chapter
conference.

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CENTCOM: B-52s from Minot Air Force Base Sent to Middle East Saturday

B-52 Stratofortress crews assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base
conducted a “short-notice, long-range mission” in the Middle East on Nov.
21, according to U.S. Central Command.

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US B-52H trains with Colombian Air Force, Ecuadorian Navy

Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft participated in “Brother’s
Shield,” a Colombian Air Force led exercise, and in “UNITAS LXI,” an
Ecuadorian Navy led exercise, in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of
responsibility Nov. 8.

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Cold War Era Munitions Storage to Be Restored at Barksdale Air Force Base

A $13.9 million restoration of the Munition Storage Area at Barksdale Air Force
Base, La., is in the works. The project is replacing aged infrastructure built
during the Cold War, to a mission critical facility. “The U.S. Air Force has
been spending lots of Operations and Maintenance appropriations to keep this
infrastructure going the past few years,” said Darin Bailey, resident engineer
at Barksdale AFB. “This base supports over 40 B-52 Stratofortress bombers.
Bottom line is they can’t perform their mission without having munitions
readily available.”

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A Look How This Texas Startup Is Helping the Air Force Use 3D Printing To Replace Parts

A Texas-based startup with $22.1 M in funding helps the U.S. Air Force 3D print
replacement parts. Elisa Teipel, chief development officer and co-founder of
Essentium, said that more than 10,000 replacement part requests are delayed or
unfilled each year despite a willingness to pay premium prices.

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Watch an F-35 Drop a B61 Nuclear Bomb in This First-Ever Declassified Video

Sandia National Laboratories, in cooperation with the Los Alamos National
Laboratory and the U.S. Air Force, recently completed a round of flight tests as
part of the integration of the new B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb onto the F-35A
Joint Strike Fighter. Sandia has also released first-of-its-kind video footage
of one of these test sorties, which involved the first-ever release of an inert
version of this weapon from an internal bomb bay on a plane flying faster than
the speed of sound and that also provides an unprecedented look at the bomb's
rocket spin stabilization system.

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To Boost Its Military Space Business, Lockheed Martin Turns to Commercial Players

A contract to build 10 satellites for the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency
for $187.5 million is small for a company with $65 billion in annual sales. But
Lockheed Martin sees it as a significant win, executives said, because it
positions the company for a changing DOD space market that wants access to the
latest commercial innovations. Lockheed Martin and York Space Systems each will
build 10 satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer mesh
network that will provide global high-speed broadband to military users.

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All The Crazy Proposed Variants of the B-70 Valkyrie Super Bomber

The different adaptations of the B-70 included recon planes, tankers,
transports, and even motherships to launch hypersonic vehicles and spacecraft.

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One More Thing...
131 Tons of Turkey and Trimmings: Thanksgiving Dinner Is on Its Way to Deployed Troops

The serving lines and long tables laden with food may be replaced with
grab-and-go takeout, but U.S. service members overseas won't be without their
traditional Thanksgiving meal, thanks to the Defense Logistics Agency.

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