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Data Points
June 29, 2009—Is DOD's rush to field F-35s with limited flight testing likely to lead to unforeseen problems? |
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In More Depth
The Bomber ArgumentIn 20 years, the current bomber force won't be a match for a "serious adversary." |
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The Document File
Testimony
June 9, 2009Maj. Gen. Marke Gibson Dir. of Ops for A3O Senate Armed Services, AirLand Written testimony June 9, 2009Lt. Gen. Mark D. Shackelford Military Deputy, ASECAF for Acquisition Senate Armed Services, AirLand Written testimony June 3, 2009Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston ACS, Strat. Deterrence & Nuclear Integration Senate Armed Services, Strategic Forces Written testimony |
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Daily ReportThursday July 02, 2009
Independence Day Holiday: The Daily Report will not publish its next column until Monday, July 6; the DR staff is taking off Friday July 3 for the July 4 Independence Day Holiday. —the DR staff Contingency Losses Climb: The Air For ce has incurred an additional 10 aircraft losses while supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq since our first report on this topic last October, bringing the total number of airframes lost in those contingencies since 9/11 to 75, as of June 30. According to Air Force data supplied to the Daily Report, there have been nine additional MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle contingency losses and one F-16 lost. The F-16 crashed upon takeoff last November at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, due to engine failure. Factoring these 10 airframes, the breakdown of all 75 Air Force contingency losses since 9/11 is as follows: one A-10A, two B-1Bs, one B-2A, one C-5B, one C-130H, one F-15E, five F-16s, two HH-60Gs, two MC-130Hs, one MC-130P, six MH-53s, one MQ-9 Reaper, 48 RQ/MQ-1 Predators, two RQ-4 Global Hawks, and one U-2. The number of combat losses—those contingency losses that occurred as a result of direct contact with the enemy—has not changed and remains at seven: one A-10A, one F-16, one MH-53, two MQ-1s, and two RQ-1s.—Michael C. Sirak Arrival at Edwards: The first X-51A scr amjet engine demonstrator vehicle arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., on June 25. It is a static test unit that will be used in ground testing starting July 6 in preparation for the X-51A flight test phase this fall. The X-51A is an Air Force Research Lab-led effort to demonstrate air breathing hypersonic propulsion using a supersonic combustion ramjet built by Pratt & Whitney. This type of propulsion is considered potentially game changing in enabling the design of ultra-fast missiles and strike aircraft to attack time-sensitive targets at great distances or to allow for rapid, reusable space access. Boeing is the lead contractor. The first X-51A flight test is slated for late October in the Point Mugu Sea Range off the coast of southern California. For the flight tests, a B-52H will carry aloft the X-51A air vehicle plus its host rocket booster. Upon release from the B-52, the solid-fueled booster will propel the X-51A to speeds of nearly Mach 5, at which point the scramjet will ignite and propel the X-51A for several minutes more to speeds around Mach 6. (Edwards photo caption by Mike Cassidy) Hurlburt Honors TACPs: More than 250 persons came together June 26 at Hurlburt Field, Fla., for the dedication of a memorial to those who have served as tactical air control party (TACP) airmen. The front of the memorial, which is located outside of the base’s TACP schoolhouse, is dedicated to all those who have served in this battlefield airman capacity; the back side honors those controllers who have fallen in the line of duty. Two names currently are etched in the back of the memorial: Air National Guardsman SSgt. Jacob Frazier, killed in action March 29, 2003, in Afghanistan, and A1C Raymond Losano, killed in action April 25, 2003, also in Afghanistan. "These men gave the ultimate sacrifice. … The reason memorials are important is that it's our obligation to recognize that sacrifice and to honor them," said Brig. Gen. Michael Longoria, commander of the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing at Moody AFB, Ga., who presided over the ceremony. CMSgt. David Devine, Headquarters Air Force TACP career field manager, noted: "It's more than a group of men who are physically fit, technically and tactically competent, and brave enough to jump out of airplanes, repel out of helicopters, and run around the front lines of a fight looking for action. It's men who truly love what they're doing and will do whatever it takes to take care of their buddies and get the job done." Today the Air Force has 1,045 active duty and 302 Air National Guard TACPs, according to service figures. These airmen advise ground commanders on the best use of airpower, direct close air support and naval gunfire. (Hurlburt report by Dawn M. Hart) Building the Association: Air Force Reserve Command expects to stand up the 44th Fighter Group at Holloman AFB, N.M., by next January to work side-by-side with Holloman’s active duty 49th Fighter Wing under a classic association to operate and sustain the 40 F-22 fighters that call Holloman home. The Reservists are currently operating at Holloman under the 301st Fighter Group, Det. 1. That group is a tenant of the 16th FW at NAS JRB Fort Worth-Carswell Field, Tex. Its members are moving to Holloman, along with airmen from AFRC’s 301st Fighter Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., to constitute the 44th FG. The group will have about 130 full-time Reservists and 330 personnel when at full strength, including F-22 pilots, maintenance and medical personnel, and support administrative staff. "We are picking up eight to 10 people a month,” said Col. Donald Lindberg, 301st FW, Det. 1 commander. (Holloman report by SrA. Rachel Kocin) Need to Move Quickly: US Strategic Command is still interested having a so-called prompt global strike weapon by 2015. Global Security Newswire reported yesterday that fielding the notional long-range, non-nuclear weapon system, such as a Minuteman III ICBM armed with a conventional warhead, remains a top priority of the command to deal with scenarios in which there are no other viable options to reach the most important types of time-critical targets such as Osama bin Laden emerging in the open. An important indicator of the maturity of such technology will be DARPA’s upcoming flight tests starting in December of two hypersonic test vehicles over the Pacific Ocean. These HTVs, developed under DARPA’s Falcon program, have similar characteristics to the notional shrouds that would protect a weapons payload en route to the target when carried aboard a conventionally armed MMIII. STRATCOM spokesman Navy Lt. Charles Drey told GSN that “it is prudent to allow" those tests to proceed before committing down the path of any particular prompt global strike system. JASSM Again Under Microscope: Production of the Air Force’s JASSM cruise missile may be terminated if its testing record does not improve, Bloomberg news wire service reported Tuesday. Lockheed Martin builds the missile and more than 600 of them have already been delivered to air bases for potential use, Bloomberg reported, citing an Air Force spokeswoman. And more than 1,000 have been ordered. But the performance of the missile in flight tests is still an issue, and an upcoming series of 16 test shots later this year could seal the missile’s fate. The Air Force wants end-to-end success (i.e., hitting the targets and detonating properly) in at least 80 percent of the upcoming flights. Pending those results, the Air Force has held off on awarding a contract in this fiscal year for the next JASSM production lot and did not ask for procurement funds for JASSM in its Fiscal 2010 budget request to Congress. This isn’t the first time JASSM has been in the hot seat. Performance reliability was an also issue back in 2007-08 when the missile program underwent an extensive review and had to be recertified for continuation. Predator Unit Reaches New High Mark: The 15th Reconnaissance Squadron at Creech AFB, Nev., reached another milestone in its MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles operations in May by surpassing the 5,000 flight-hour mark for the first time in a single month. In total, the unit’s Predators accumulated 5,397 combat flight hours that month while supporting US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. "This milestone is a true testament of the increased demands of the unblinking eye the Predator provides,” said Col. Pete Gersten, commander of both the 432nd Wing and 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing under which the squadron falls. In 2008, the squadron’s monthly total averaged 3,552 hours. Prior to May, the unit had averaged 4,711 hours per month in 2009. Lt. Col. Robert Kiebler, commander of the 15th RS, said he was “extremely proud” of his airmen. "Their continuous dedication, commitment, and professionalism to the mission has enabled us to continuously support the troops on the ground 24 hours a day, 356 days a year,” he said. Back in February, the 15th RS flew the Predator mission during which the US military’s total Predator fleet surpassed 500,000 total flight hours. (Creech report by SSgt. Alice Moore) Less Than One Month: July 27 will be a big day for the 12-nation strategic airlift capability consortium as it stands ready to activate the heavy airlift wing at Papa AB, Hungary, that will operate its three C-17 transports. It will also celebrate the arrival of its first C-17 on that day, according to a release yesterday. Approximately 150 air force personnel from the 12 nations and their families will live at the base, including 43 US Air Force members and their kin. The wing's multinational aircrews will fly missions that support the participating nations’ needs as well as those of NATO, the European Union, and United Nations, especially in humanitarian relief roles. Ten of the participating nations are NATO members: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and the US. The remaining two, Finland and Sweden, are NATO Partnership for Peace members. (For more on the SAC, read Team Airlift from the June 2009 issue of Air Force Magazine.) Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia:
June 28, 2009
| Sortie Type |
OIF |
OEF |
OIF/OEF |
Total |
YTD |
| ISR |
24 |
21 |
|
45 |
7,328 |
| CAS/Armed Recon |
12 |
74 |
|
86 |
17,276 |
| Airlift |
|
|
120 |
120 |
24,441 |
| Air refueling |
|
|
51 |
51 |
8,117 |
| Total |
|
|
|
302 |
57,132 | 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
Too High a Risk?
"This issue is not about contractor 'A' or contractor 'B.' The issues is that we do not believe that it is prudent for up to 80 to 90 percent of the fighter fleet to be dependent on a single engine type, provided by one manufacturer. Being tied to one engine is too high an operational risk to take."
—Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), explaining why his House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee had added funds to the 2010 defense budget to cover continued development of an alternate engine for the F-35, committee markup session, June 16, 2009. |
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Verbatim
You Betcha
"Your decision to terminate the acquisition of the C-17s, the F- 22s, the DDG-1000, and the Future Combat System vehicles—we have concerns that it may send the wrong signal to our friends and our potential aggressors that we are reducing our capability. It may also have a long-term impact on our defense industrial base. It may diminish our capacity to provide deterrents and reduce our strength that we provide to our allies. We hope that this is not the consequence, but some of us are concerned."
—Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), parting remarks to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, Joint Chiefs Chairman, during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing, June 9, 2009. |
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