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Nov. 25, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen and Brian W. Everstine
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 Airmen monitor computers in support of the Advanced Battle Management System Onramp 2, on Sept 2, 2020 at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Joint all-domain command and control exercises like this one require the rapid exchange of data across platforms. USAF photo by Senior Airman Daniel Hernandez. |
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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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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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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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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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
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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Air Force Special Ops Must ‘Ruthlessly’ Cut Legacy Systems, 3-Star General Says
Military.com
"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
C4ISRNET
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
KFYRTV.com
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
USAF release
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
Bossier NOW
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
Forbes
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
The Drive
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
SpaceNews
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 Drive
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
Military.com
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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