Wednesday, December 4, 2019

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Avoiding Another Force Structure Mistake; Tenant Bill of Rights Offers Range of Protections; Kunsan Resumes Flying Operations

—Rachel S. Cohen, Brian Everstine, Amy McCullough, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory, and John A. Tirpak
([link removed] 2019/December 4 2019/DR_12032019.jpg)

​A B-1B Lancer is refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 28th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron out of Al Udeid AB, Qatar, Oct. 25, 2019. The bomber flew directly from its home station of Ellsworth AFB, S.D., demonstrating the US Air Force’s ability to rapidly deploy strategic bombers anywhere in the world. Air Force photo by MSgt. Joshua L. DeMotts.

​Air Force May Be About to Make Another Big Force Structure Mistake
Cutting needed capabilities to pay for modernizing the force is a management tactic that has failed every time the Air Force has tried it, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Authors Mark Gunzinger and Carl Rehberg said the Air Force, which already has shrunk by strategy reviews over the last 25 years, can’t bear to be any smaller as it has become “indispensable” to the US defense enterprise. They propose an end to the “pass-through” accounts unique to the Air Force that make the service’s budgets look artificially larger than they really are, and cross-service cost trades informed by USAF’s disproportionate contribution to US military capability. Read the full story by John A. Tirpak. ([link removed])
Congressional Delays Slow DOD's Tenant Bill of Rights
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett on Dec. 3 told senators the service is ready to roll out a new “bill of rights” for airmen living in privatized military housing as soon as Congress passes a fiscal 2020 defense policy bill, now two months overdue. “We’re ready to go—could have issued it earlier but don’t want to issue something today that then lies in contrast with what the [National Defense Authorization Act] might come out with,” she told Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on substandard housing. Rather than issue the tenant bill of rights now and reconcile the differences with the law later, Barrett said the Air Force would rather wait and be consistent. The bill of rights would offer tenants a range of protections as service members battle rodents, mold, structural defects, and other problems in homes managed by private companies. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen. ([link removed])



Kunsan AB Resumes Flying Operations After F-16 Crash
The runway at Kunsan AB, South Korea, reopened “for all civilian and military flying operations” around 3 p.m. local time on Dec. 3, a day after an F-16 pilot was forced to eject ([link removed]) during a routine landing at the installation, according to an 8th Fighter Wing release ([link removed]). “A safety board is continuing to investigate the incident,” the wing wrote. The release neither identified the pilot, whom the base said ([link removed]) was brought to a medical center for treatment on Dec. 2 after having sustained “minor injuries,” nor did it provide an update on the pilot’s condition or the status of the aircraft. —Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory


Hill AFB to Host Experiment for 5G, Airborne Radars
The Defense Department is looking to build and run a full-scale, fifth-generation wireless network at Hill AFB, Utah, to learn more about how it would interact with radars. In October ([link removed]), DOD announced it would launch experimentation and prototyping programs at four bases to explore how the next leap in connectivity ([link removed]) could affect training and logistics. A recent project notice ([link removed]) says the Pentagon and the Air Force need to develop hardware and software that allow airborne radars and 5G cellular systems to share bands on the radio spectrum, particularly focused on the 3,100-3,450 MHz band. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen. ([link removed])



Get Ready for the NEW Airforcemag.com!
Air Force Magazine will launch an all-new website and redesigned Daily Report on Thursday morning. The new site and Daily Report email will be easier to read on all devices, include more and larger photos, and it will be easier to navigate. Airframe returns to highlight the amazing images captured by USAF photographers, and history content will be easier to locate. Readers will be able to sort news by topic, to search through Accident Investigation Board reports and other historical documents, and read about USAF heroes in our Valor and Namesakes features. A new comments feature will allow any registered reader to comment on articles on the site. Some content will be restricted to members of the Air Force Association. For now, that will be just our USAF Almanac issues and historic almanacs focused on USAF Space, Russia, and the Vietnam War. New features will continue to roll out over the course of the next year; we’ll tell you about those as they’re ready. We hope you love the new look as much as we do, and invite you to share your impressions (and beefs) by writing to us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]).

Lockheed Gets $988.8 Million ARRW Contract Modification
The Air Force on Dec. 2 awarded Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control a $988.8 million modification to a contract for critical design review of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW. The hypersonic AGM-183 ARRW has been undergoing initial tests at Edwards AFB, Calif. The service plans the first operational flight test of the weapon by the end of 2020, with initial operational capability by 2022. Read the full story by Brian Everstine. ([link removed])
Hurricane Hunters Finish Busy Hurricane Season

The “Hurricane Hunters” of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron wrapped up the 2019 hurricane season at the end of November, having flown more hours this year than the previous year. The WC-130s, of the Keesler AFB, Miss.-based unit, flew more than 684 hours, totaling 80 missions in nine storms. While the hurricane season is over, the squadron will stay busy flying into winter storms, among other missions. Read the full story by Brian Everstine ([link removed]).

__________ RADAR SWEEP

US Troops and A-10s Return to Marjah Fight
The Afghan government said Nov. 30 its forces cleared the opium rich and volatile district of Marjah, Afghanistan, after four years of control by the Taliban, but some remain skeptical of the claim and question whether Afghan forces can truly hold the territory. Military Times ([link removed])

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Talks Turkey’s Erdogan, and “the Hole He’s Dug Himself Into”
A key gatekeeper on US foreign military sales, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho.) opposes F-35 sales to ally and NATO member Turkey, and he practically personifies Turkey’s strained relations with Congress. In a recent interview with Defense News, he discussed upcoming committee action to sanction Turkey, his opposition to renewing the New START Treaty and his support for proposed sanctions on companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Defense News ([link removed])

OPINION: Three Tweaks to Foster Innovative Defense Products
“Pentagon brass fretting about their dwindling technological advantage should take a look at Palantir and Anduril—two innovative companies that are applying commercial tech to military problems—and ponder: how can we help non-billionaire-backed companies do the same?” writes Jeff Decker, a Beall postdoctoral fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School. “Although the Defense Department cannot give promising young startups millions of dollars, as Peter Thiel and Palmer Luckey did, it can make three tweaks to help the US realize an American brand of ‘military-civil fusion.’” Defense One ([link removed])

Pentagon Eyeing More Advanced Virtual, Augmented Reality Headwear
Technology improvements driven by the commercial sector are expected to yield virtual and augmented reality goggles that solve many of the problems associated with the headsets being used by the US military today, experts say. National Defense Magazine ([link removed])

Air Force Test Center Activates Cyber Lab Detachment
The Air Force Test Center officially activated a new detachment within the 47th Cyberspace Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Nov. 19. The detachment provides the Air Force with a secure avionics cyber test laboratory and fields cyber test capabilities to evaluate the Air Force's premiere weapons systems, a news release published on the service's website states. Inside Defense ([link removed])

Cheap Cyber Weapons Threaten Unintended Consequences
A new report on the commoditization of cyber weapons suggests that the easy availability of inexpensive offensive cyber tools is reshaping the cyber threat landscape. The report is being briefed to officials across the federal government, including elements of the Defense Department, Homeland Security Department, FBI, Senate Cyber Caucus, and the Secret Service. Signal Magazine ([link removed])

Indo-Pacific Partners Join Pacific Air Forces for 68th Year Delivering Humanitarian Aid to 20,000 People Across 56 Islands
US and partner airmen in Guam are set to participate in the Defense Department’s longest running humanitarian mission beginning Dec. 10. USAF release ([link removed])

NATO Signs AWACS Upgrade Contract with Boeing
NATO has signed a $1 billion contract with Boeing to upgrade the Alliance's 14 E-3 Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft. The AWACS Final Lifetime Extension Programme (FLEP) contract was signed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Boeing International President Michael Arthur at Melsbroek, the military part of Brussels airport, on Nov. 27, the Belgian Ministry of Defence said on its website. Jane’s Defence Weekly ([link removed]) (subscription required)

One More Thing …

Russia Plans to Set Up Massive New Radar Array to Help Control the Arctic Region
Russia claims the new radar would give it enhanced early warning of incoming aircraft, cruise missiles, and hypersonic weapons from the region. The Drive ([link removed])


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