Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Jan. 13, 2021

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

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Joint Chiefs Condemn Capitol Attack, Say Inauguration Will Proceed
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by
President Donald J. Trump's supporters, who were looking to interrupt the
certification of electoral votes, calling the attack “a direct assault on the
U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process.” Six
people died as a result of injuries sustained in the riot, including two Capitol
Police officers. “We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were
inconsistent with the rule of law,” wrote the Joint Chiefs in the undated
internal memo, a copy of which was obtained by Air Force Magazine on Jan. 12.
“The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to
resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection.”

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Granting Austin’s Waiver Could Damage US Politics, Experts Tell Senators
By Rachel S. Cohen

Experts warned the Senate Armed Services Committee at a Jan. 12 hearing that
approving a waiver for retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as Defense
Secretary would damage the norm of civilian control of the military and
cautioned against relying on veterans to lend credibility to American politics.
Senators are now in the position of deciding whether to waive that seven-year
requirement for only the third time in U.S. history and the second time since
2017. It’s not only a matter of whether he has the integrity or the respect to
lead, they said, but what is at stake by allowing him to do so. The question of
whether Austin is truly the best candidate for Defense Secretary hung over the
hearing, one week ahead of when the secretary-designate is slated to appear
before the committee. The House Armed Services Committee plans to vet Austin at
a similar hearing on Jan. 21.

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Northrop Grumman EW System Could Be Installed On About 450 F-16s If Successful
By John A. Tirpak

Northrop Grumman bested L3 Harris to win the right to develop a Next-Generation
Electronic Warfare system for Air Force F-16s, potentially worth $2.5 billion in
production, the company and Air Force officials reported. The development
contract is worth $250 million, and if successful, installs could begin as early
as 2024. Northrop also makes the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar radar,
which is upgrading USAF's F-16 fleet.

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Air Force, Space Force Leaders Now Vaccinated Against COVID-19
By Rachel S. Cohen

The top three leaders in the Department of the Air Force have received their
first coronavirus vaccinations, as the shot rolls out across U.S. military bases
worldwide. Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett and Air Force Chief of Staff
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. were both vaccinated Jan. 12, service spokeswoman Ann
Stefanek said. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay”
Raymond received the vaccine earlier in January. Chief Master Sergeant of the
Air Force JoAnne S. Bass is also vaccinated, according to a Jan. 12 Facebook
post. “Didn’t even feel it,” she said.

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F-104 Record-Setter, River Rats Founder Howard Johnson, 1920-2020
By John A. Tirpak

Howard C. “Scrappy” Johnson, a Collier Trophy winner and founder of the Red
River Valley Pilots Association—also known as the “River Rats”—died Dec.
9, 2020, at age 100. Johnson flew hundreds of combat missions in Korea and
Vietnam. He also served in World War II.

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Virtual Events: Navy’s Wolfe on Mitchell’s Nuclear Deterrence Forum
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On Jan. 14 at 9 a.m. EST, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for
Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Forum featuring Navy
Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of the service's Strategic Systems Program. In
that role, Wolfe is a key leader in the management of the seaborne leg of the
U.S. triad. Leveraging his extensive experience, Wolfe will share his insights
into the modernization of the Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile Weapons Systems,
U.S.-U.K. nuclear deterrence cooperation, and the U.S. Navy-Army joint
hypersonic missile development program, among other topics. Advanced
registration is required. <a
href="[link removed]">Sign
up here.</a>

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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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The Military Has a Hate Group Problem. But It Doesn't Know How Bad It's Gotten.

The rise of extremism in the ranks is seen as a "crisis issue" but the
military's efforts to weed out radicals are "haphazard" at best.

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Due on Inauguration Day: An Acquisition Strategy for the Air Force’s Next-Gen Battle Management System

The U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System effort is a program
like no other: a complicated and sometimes confusing web of communications, IT,
and artificial intelligence systems that the service plans to continuously test
and develop with the goal of connecting sensors and shooters across the joint
force. But over the next few weeks, Air Force leaders are aiming to finally
answer looming questions about ABMS and transition it into more of a traditional
defense program, all in the hopes that both Congress and the Biden
administration carry it forward.

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Member of Famed Tuskegee Airmen Dies from Coronavirus

One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen—the first Black pilots in the segregated U.S.
military and among the most respected fighter pilots of World War II—has died
from complications of the coronavirus, it was announced Jan. 8. Theodore Lumpkin
Jr. was just days short of his 101st birthday.

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What Will Spur Open Standards for 5G: DOD, NTIA Ask Industry

The Defense Department and the Commerce Department are seeking help from
industry to set up a “challenge” competition to help accelerate development
of open software for 5G networks, including potential market incentives for
companies willing to eschew proprietary tech.

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SPONSORED—VIDEO: 4 Principles of Agile JADC2 Development

Innovation has always been a hallmark of the U.S. Air Force. But with the
accelerating pace of technology development, the service needs a new approach to
modern design to make the latest technologies profoundly more accessible.

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Pompeo Says Iran Gives Al Qaeda New 'Home Base,' Analysts Skeptical

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Jan. 12, without providing hard
evidence, that Al Qaeda had established a new home base in Iran and the United
States had fewer options in dealing with the group now it was “burrowed
inside” that country.

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Trump Hits Cuba with New Terrorism Sanctions in Waning Days

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the step, citing in particular Cuba’s
continued harboring of U.S. fugitives, its refusal to extradite a coterie of
Colombian guerrilla commanders, as well as its support for Venezuelan leader
Nicolás Maduro.

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This Is Our Best Look Yet at China's Z-20F Seahawk Clone Toting Air-to-Surface Missiles

The Z-20F's configuration is different from one recently seen on a standard Z-20
helicopter and mirrors the setup on U.S. Navy Seahawks.

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One More Thing...
That Time A B-52H Stratofortress Bomber Lost Its Tail over New Mexico but Managed to Land 6 Hours Later.

On Jan. 10, 1964, Boeing civilian test pilot Chuck Fisher and his three man crew
launched from Wichita, Kan., for a mission aboard B-52H serial number 61-0023.
The aircraft was involved in a test mission whose purpose was to examine the
effects of turbulence at varying altitudes and airspeeds. In other words the
aircrew would shake, rattle, and roll the Stratofortress bomber at high speed
and low altitude to record sensor data on how such conditions could affect the
plane’s airframe.

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