Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Feb. 18, 2021

View in your Web Browser: [link removed]
Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brown Launching Major TacAir Study with CAPE, Considering ‘5th-Gen Minus’
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force will soon embark on a major new analysis of its tactical fighter
mix, looking for the right capabilities in the high-, middle- and low-end
spectrum of warfare, service Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Feb.
17. The study will involve the Pentagon's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
shop to get buy-in from the Pentagon leadership, and the study should be ready
to inform the fiscal 2023 budget, Brown said. He also acknowledged that the F-35
fighter's engine is having problems, likely caused by excessive use, and said
he's considering reducing its operating tempo to save the fleet for a future
high-end fight.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First of 17 B-1Bs Heads to the Boneyard
By John A. Tirpak

The first of 17 B-1B bombers to be retired this fiscal year under a
Congressionally-approved divestiture plan flew to the “boneyard” at
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on Feb. 17, Air Force Global Strike Command
said. Of the 17 Lancers to retire, four will be kept in “recallable
storage,” one will go to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif, for testing, one will
go to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.,
and one may be used for research, while a fourth may be put on static display at
an unidentified base. After the drawdown, USAF will have 45 B-1s left in
service.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Report: AMC Boss Expected to be Nominated to Lead TRANSCOM
By Brian W. Everstine

Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost is expected to be nominated to lead U.S.
Transportation Command, a pick originally expected last fall but The New York
Times reported Feb. 17 that it was delayed based on concerns about the White
House’s reaction at the time. Van Ovost, who has led Air Mobility Command
since August, and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, head of U.S. Army
North, were both set to lead combatant commands but then-Defense Secretary Mark
T. Esper told the Times it was delayed because, “I didn’t want their
promotions derailed because someone in the Trump White House saw that I
recommended them or thought DOD was playing politics. Richardson is expected to
be nominated to lead U.S. Southern Command. “They were the best qualified,”
Esper told the Times. “We were doing the right thing.”

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sikorsky Wrapping Developmental Tests on New Search-and-Rescue Chopper
By Rachel S. Cohen

Sikorsky will finish its to-do list of developmental flight testing requirements
for the Air Force’s new fleet of combat search-and-rescue helicopters in the
next month or so, and is gearing up to deliver one chopper per month starting
this summer, company officials told reporters Feb. 17. The Combat Rescue
Helicopter program is moving forward as Sikorsky has delivered eight of the nine
HH-60W Jolly Green II aircraft built so far. Those eight helos are housed at
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and Moody Air Force Base, Ga., while Sikorsky is
using the ninth airframe for flight tests.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFSOC Experimenting with Agile Combat Employment
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Air Force Special Operations Command is running an experiment to see if it can
successfully generate small, deployable teams of multi-capable Airmen to better
align with the Air Force’s agile combat employment model, AFSOC Commander Lt.
Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife said during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace
Studies event on Feb. 16.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SDA Preps Plans for ‘Tranche One’ Satellites
By Rachel S. Cohen

Pentagon officials are nailing down what the military wants to see from its next
round of new satellites procured by the Space Development Agency, with a request
for proposals due out this summer, the agency’s director said Feb. 16. The
Defense Department is in the middle of defining its needs for the group of
communications and missile tracking satellites known as “Tranche One,” which
are slated to reach space by 2024, SDA boss Derek M. Tournear said during a
Space Symposium event. He hopes to have a better idea of what Tranche One will
look like by May.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pilot Error Caused 2020 C-130J Hard Landing at Ramstein
By Brian W. Everstine

Pilot error caused extensive damage to a C-130J during assault landing training
at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in April 2020, according to an accident
investigation, which also found that effective aircrew training is limited. The
C-130J-30, a stretched version of the Super Hercules with tail number 11-5736,
assigned to the 37th Airlift Squadron, sustained an estimated $20.9 million in
damage. No aircrew members were injured in the mishap, according to a U.S. Air
Forces in Europe Accident Investigation Board report released Feb. 16. An over
emphasis on operational sorties instead of training and the lack of a local
landing zone for assault landings at the base also contributed to the incident,
according to the report.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 18

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force
Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled
Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radar Sweep

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter Weather Causes More Than a Dozen Military Bases to Close

More than a dozen military bases stretching from Fort Drum in New York to Fort
Hood in Texas were closed on Feb. 16 as large swaths of the country were gripped
by freezing temperatures and dangerous weather conditions.

[link removed]
(Subscription Required)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DARPA Builds AI to Avoid Army, Air Force Fratricide

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s planned artificial
intelligence tool to help de-conflict joint fires in joint all-domain command
and control will undergo live testing in the first half of 2024, says program
manager Paul Zablocky.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFRL Deploys Raytheon's HELWS Anti-Drone Weapon Overseas for Operator Training

The Air Force has deployed Raytheon's High-Energy Laser Weapon System 2—a
system designed to counter drone threats—to an unidentified combatant command
base abroad for operator training and an initial performance evaluation, the
service announced in a Feb. 17 press release.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iraqis, Syrians Still Rely on Coalition Air Power as Troop Levels Wane

Iraqi and Syrian forces still depend on foreign air support, even though the
U.S.-led coalition has largely shifted away from hands-on training to advising
remotely out of a few consolidated bases, according to an inspector general
report on the anti-Islamic State group mission released Feb. 16.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russia, China to Sign Agreement on International Lunar Research Station

“Roscosmos has completed domestic proceedings to harmonize the memorandum of
understanding between the Government of the Russian Federation and the
Government of People’s Republic of China on cooperation to create the
International Lunar Research Station,” the Roscosmos Press Office told
SpaceNews in an email.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Military Prepares to Deploy Thousands of Active-Duty Troops to Help FEMA Deliver Vaccines

The Pentagon is preparing to deploy thousands of Active-duty U.S. military
personnel to support COVID-19 vaccination sites across the country, according to
Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, head of U.S. Northern Command.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOD Secured Fair Prices Despite Rapid Shift to Mass Telework, Audit Finds

The department also was able to reduce cybersecurity risks as it bought IT
products and services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an inspector general
report concluded.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPINION: Will Boeing Become the Next McDonnell Douglas?

“It has been nearly 25 years since Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged,”
writes Aviation Week Network Contributing Columnist Richard Aboulafia, who also
works as vice president of analysis at the Teal Group. “Given Boeing’s
significant engineering cuts, program execution problems, clear prioritization
of shareholder returns, extremely uncertain product development road map, and
deteriorating market share outlook, it is time to consider whether Boeing
Commercial Aircraft (BCA) is destined to share Douglas’ fate.”

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPINION: Five Issues Washington Should Consider in Reviewing a Lockheed-Aerojet Merger

“I believe the government should approve the proposed merger, but with
conditions,” writes Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the nonprofit
Lexington Institute and CEO of Source Associates. “The principal condition
should be an enforceable guarantee that Lockheed will act as a merchant supplier
of rocket engines to the marketplace once it acquires Aerojet, rather than being
allowed to leverage Aerojet’s product lines to disadvantage rivals.”

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One More Thing...
Photos Reveal Damage from Deadly Rocket Attack at US Base in Iraq

The Feb. 15 attack caught U.S. personnel in their bunks and destroyed contractor
living facilities.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Daily Report: [link removed]
- Contact Us: [link removed]
- Advertise With Us: [link removed]
- Purchase/Reprint: [link removed]

- Air Force Association: [link removed]
- Join AFA: [link removed]

- AF Mag on Facebook: [link removed]
- AF Mag on Twitter: [link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Published by the Air Force Association

All airforcemag.com material is under copyright of
the Air Force Association. All rights reserved.

The Air Force Association
1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA
22209-1198

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe or change your preferences, please visit the link below:
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------