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Data Points
April 29, 2008—The Air Force surpassed one million operational sorties in the GWOT April 19. |
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In More Depth
341 BulkheadCracked bulkheads in 63 of USAF’s 397 F-16 Block 40/42 aircraft are yet another example of the challenges of operating an aging fleet. Swords of DamoclesReadiness and succeeding in Afghanistan are the two top concerns of Rep. Ike Skelton. Rolling ThundervisionThree Senators want more to be done over the tainted Thunderbird Airshow Production Services contract. |
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The Document File
Barrel Roll, 1968-73:
An Air Campaign in Support of National Policy
Col. Perry L. Lamy Air War College Research Report Air University May 10, 1995 |
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Testimony
April 23, 2008Col. Deborah L. Hart IMA to Asst. SG for Dental Services House Armed Services, Oversight Statement April 23, 2008
Col. Gary C. Martin TMA Chief of Dental Care Branch House Armed Services, Oversight Statement April 17, 2008Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III Director, MDA House Armed Services, Strategic Forces Statement |
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Daily ReportFriday May 16, 2008
Lockheed Triumphs in GPS III Contest: Lockheed  Martin has navigated its way ahead of Boeing to win the Air Force’s Global Positioning System Block III satellite contest, securing an initial $1.46 billion contract for the first increment of the next-generation satellites, DOD announced May 15. “Lockheed Martin is proud to serve as the US Air Force's partner on this critical national program," said Joanne Maguire, executive vice president of Lockheed’s Space Systems Company, in the company’s May 15 statement. Under the contract, Lockheed’s team, which includes ITT and General Dynamics, will supply the first two GPS Block IIIA satellites, the first of which is projected for launch in 2014. The contract includes options for up to 10 additional GPS IIIA production satellites, DOD said. More capable Block IIIB and Block IIIC satellites will follow, bringing the future constellation to more than 30 satellites. Timing-wise the decision hits losing bidder Boeing hard, since the Chicago-based aerospace giant remains in the midst of a series of defeats in big-ticket defense competitions starting with its loss in USAF’s KC-X tanker contest Feb. 29, and continuing with losses in a joint-service radio program and Navy unmanned aerial vehicle contest. Wear and Tear: The Air F orce’s F-16 Block 40/42 aircraft are experiencing cracked bulkheads that require repair or eventual replacement. While not a safety-of-flight concern, this issue, like the F-15 longeron saga, epitomizes the challenges of operating platforms for longer than their intended services lives while having to fly them at high tempo rates through 17 years of continual overseas deployments and wars. Already 63 of USAF’s 397 F-16 Block 40/42s have been identified as having the cracks. Four F-16s were grounded initially and had their bulkheads replaced, officials at Hill AFB, Utah, told the Daily Report. The other 59 airframes have no flight restrictions imposed on them, but are being inspected every 10 flight hours to monitor the situation. USAF and Lockheed Martin, the F-16’s manufacturer, have a repair design in place that will be installed starting in May as a permanent fix for aircraft with very minor cracks. For those airframes with more pronounced cracks, the repair would only be a temporary fix, so USAF and Lockheed Martin have developed a new bulkhead that can withstand additional stresses. Installation of the repair design should be complete for all known cases by January 2009, while bulkhead replacements will continue through December 2009, the Hill officials said. By staying vigilant in monitoring the bulkheads, USAF hopes to catch future cracking early enough so that the repair will suffice and greatly reduce the need for replacing bulkheads. This point is critical since newer F-16 Block 50/52s have the same bulkhead design as the F-16 Block 40/42s and will be affected at some point in their service life with the cracks due to structural fatigue, according to the Hill officials. (For more read 341 Bulkhead) C-130 Relief Flights Continue Into Burma: A total of eight Air Force C-130 transports operating of out Thailand had delivered nearly 100 tons of supplies to Burma as of May 14 to aid the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, according to US defense officials. The most recent flights came on that day as five C-130s landed at Yangon International Airport in Rangoon, loaded with water, blankets, rations, mosquito netting and plastic sheeting, the Pentagon said in a May 15 release. While Burmese officials have agreed to allow five more planeloads of relief supplies, the US has been limited to using C-130s and landing at Yangon. US military officials would like to set up a helicopter forward operating base outside of Burma and then be granted the right to ferry relief supplies aboard the helicopters directly into the areas hardest hit by the cyclone deep in the Irrawaddy River delta. The first C-130, operating from Utapao, Thailand, touched down at Yangon May 12. House Panel Adds C-17s In Fiscal 2009 Defense Mark-up: The House Armed Services Committee added $3.9 billion for the Air Force to procure an additional 15 C-17s in its mark-up of the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2009 spending plan May 14. It also added $523 million for the advance procurement of long-lead components for 20 additional F-22s and $495 million to keep the F-35’s competing F136 engine program alive. Rep. Ike Skelton, the committee’s chairman, made good on previous remarks that readiness was his top concern by earmarking nearly $2 billion toward the services’ unfunded readiness initiatives. This includes: $50 million for Air National Guard depot equipment maintenance, $60 million for Air Force Reserve depot equipment maintenance, and $34 million for the air sovereignty alert mission, according to the committee’s May 15 statement. The Senate did not provide funding for the C-17s in its mark-up April 30, but it did provide funding for the F136 as well as funding that may go toward the 20 additional F-22s. The House panel also reduced Airborne Laser funding by $42.6 million and provides no funds for a second ABL aircraft. Additionally, it slashed funding essentially in half for the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance program. The committee added language that will allow the Air Force to retire C-5 aircraft only after the service receives the 189th C-17 and there has been an in-depth cost analysis and certification that operational risk would not increase. Cannon-aide: The Air Force signed the movement directive May 12 that formally authorizes the relocation of the 16th Special Operations Squadron and its eight AC-130H gunships from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to Cannon AFB, N.M, Air Force Special Operations Command announced May 15. The 16th SOS, formerly a part of Hurlburt’s 1st Special Operations Wing, will transfer to the 27th SOW at Cannon, AFSOC’s western hub since October 2007. The command anticipates the move of the gunships and associated aircrews and support personnel to be complete by November 2009, with an initial cadre moving this summer and the majority of the squadron in April 2009, AFSOC said. The transfer will involve approximately 600 positions. Members of the New Mexico Congressional delegation welcomed the news—which they got wind of prior to the public announcement—in a joint statement May 14. Planning For a Positive Outcome: Northrop Grumman and EADS North America plan to hold a ground-breaking ceremony June 28 Brookley Field in Mobile, Ala., to mark the start of construction for their adjoining manufacturing plants where they will assemble the Air Force’s new KC-45A tanker aircraft, the companies announced May 13. The ceremony is scheduled for nine days after the Government Accountability Office’s stated deadline for ruling on the legal protest filed by Boeing over the Air Force’s choice of the Northrop Grumman-EADS aircraft over its own KC-767 design. Thus, Northrop Grumman and EADS said the ceremony is “pending the outcome” of GAO’s review. “We anticipate a favorable decision and look forward to starting construction on this historic facility,” said Northrop CEO Ronald Sugar. “This event underscores the fact that we are ready to get to work now.” EADS will be responsible for final assembly, test and certification of the basic airframe at its Mobile facility. Northrop Grumman will then modify the aircraft to the Air Force’s military specifications at its plant. The two plants are expected to create about 1,500 jobs in the Mobile area, the Birmingham Business Journal reported May 13. Strike Aircraft Remain Busy Over Afghanistan: F-15Es pounded enemy combatants with 500-pound joint direct attack munitions and 2,000-pound JDAMs May 14 in the vicinity of Orgune, Afghanistan, Air Forces Central announced May 15. An F-15E struck enemy combatants with a 500-pound laser-guided bomb in Qalenaw, and another Strike Eagle hit enemy combatants with a 500-pound LGB in Asadabad. Also in Asadabad, a B-1B dropped 500-pound and 2,000-pound JDAMs onto enemy fighting positions, AFCENT said. “Hubitual” Pride: The 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, a C-130 unit operating from Balad AB, Iraq, says its transport activities have kept approximately 10,000 ground vehicles and about 27,000 airmen, marines, sailors, and soldiers from having to travel along dangerous truck convoy routes since the unit’s stand-up in January 2006. “The convoys are still facing a lot of threats out there," said TSgt. Eric McNeish, 777 EAS flight engineer, deployed from Little Rock AFB, Ark. "We are able to keep more vehicles and people off the roads and lessen their chances of encountering improvised explosive devices, direct gun fire, or other harmful situations throughout these regions." Under USAF’s “hub-and-spoke” approach, Balad is a major logistical supply hub from which supplies are airlifted to austere locations. “If we can save one person by taking them out of harm's way, we have achieved our goal,” said Captain Jesse Caldwell 777th EAS aircraft commander. (Balad report by SSgt. Ruth Curfman) Into The Dark: Members of the Arkansas Air National Guard's 154th Training Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base hope to begin using the Walnut Ridge Airport in the north-central part of the state before the end of the year as a night-vision goggle training base. The airport, a mere 20 minutes flying time from Little Rock, was used during World War II as a training site for the Army Air Forces. “Walnut Ridge is a great place because it gives us a low-traffic, low-light environment for NVG training,” said Maj. Tom Parker, the squadron's scheduling officer and person in charge of finding a suitable location. Members of the training unit scouted the airport May 3. If it gets approval, the Guard C-130s could be using Walnut Ridge by October. (Little Rock report by MSgt. Bob Oldham) Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia:
May 13-14, 2008
| Sortie Type |
OIF |
OEF |
OIF/OEF |
Total |
YTD |
| ISR |
48 |
25 |
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73 |
3,907 |
| CAS/Armed Recon |
135 |
93 |
|
228 |
11,771 |
| Airlift |
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|
298 |
298 |
17,124 |
| Air refueling |
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111 |
111 |
5,452 |
| Total |
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710 |
38,254 | OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom
OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom
ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance
YTD = Year to Date
Airlift includes Horn of Africa data |
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Verbatim
Bring More
“Everyone … was so ecstatic or excited to have us there on the ground. … [In broken English, they appeared to say] ‘Please bring more; please bring more.’ … Offload capability is very limited. … [The C-130 had] to be hand-offloaded. … Based on what I saw, I really don’t think they have the infrastructure. … It would take a lot of people and resources to distribute it [relief and medical supplies] needs to be distributed.”
—USAF Capt. Trevor Hall, command pilot for the C-130 that delivered the first US supplies to Burma following the devastating May 2 cyclone, speaking with reporters May 14. |
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Verbatim
Dollars Well Spent
“Sometimes Congress has a long-range, wiser process than the military ... because we have the opportunity to look at national defense from a broader point of view than just a single service. ... How about the A-10? The Air Force didn’t want it, and they have gotten more than their money’s worth out of the A-10 in the Middle East.”
—Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, commenting on whether unwanted Congressional plus-ups in the Defense Department budget place more budgetary pressures on the Pentagon, during a meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C., April 29, 2008. |
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