The Latest from the US Air Force
By Sharon Lo, Managing Editor, DTJ & The Source
The three senior-most leaders of the Department of the Air Force were on Capitol Hill last week, testifying in front of the House Armed Services Committee. Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David L. Goldfein, and Chief of Space Operations Gen John W. Raymond detailed aggressive efforts the service is making to build and incorporate the newly created Space Force and modernize the full force to meet new and emerging threats.
At the same time, they acknowledged that achieving that goal within a tight budget for fiscal year 2021 demands “tough but necessary trades.” One such trade includes retiring a collection of older planes to free up funding for critical new equipment. The list includes 13 KC-135 Stratotankers and 16 KC-10 Extenders; 24 C-130H Hercules, 17 B-1 Lancers, and 24 RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20/30 aircraft, among others.
Pilot Shortage Remains Critical
During their testimony, Air Force leadership revealed the service is short 2,100 pilots. A pilot shortfall limits how effectively the Air Force can train for war and how many sorties it could launch during a crisis.
While the service has made efforts to recruit and retain pilots in recent years, those efforts thus far have failed. Though, at least one commentator suggests this could be improved by identifying “blind spots” hindering those efforts.
Avoiding Refueling Gaps
Congressional members are also interested in ways to pressure Boeing amid news a correction for the Air Force’s Boeing-made KC-46 tanker won’t be available until at least 2023. A fix is needed to avoid a potential gap in the Air Force’s vital refueling capability.
The service is in the final stages of a feasibility study that is evaluating whether the Air Force should buy commercial tanking services to support day-to-day needs for training and testing. A decision on whether or not to kick-start a competition for aerial-refueling services should be made by the end of this month.
Chief of Staff Nominated
The testimony may be one of the last for Goldfein, as this past week President Donald Trump nominated Gen Charles Q. Brown to replace Goldfein as the Air Force’s 22nd Chief of Staff. Brown currently serves as Commander of Pacific Air Forces and is a highly decorated F-16 combat pilot.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper emphasized the importance and difficulty of the chief of staff’s role in the announcement, stating that it will only grow more complicated as the military shifts to focus on “great power competition” against peer or near-peer nations such as China or Russia.
Modernizing Tactics
The Army and Air Force research labs are working together to fast-track the development of hypersonic weapons. They are working to engineer a new generation of hypersonic weapons designed to come after the currently emerging arsenal. This would expand hypersonic mission options in new directions and introduce new air vehicle configurations.
Weapons are not the only area where the two service labs are cooperating. The collaboration is exploring a host of scientific research efforts, weapons prototyping, exploration of new materials, experimentation, and the pursuit of innovative manufacturing strategies such as “additive manufacturing” or 3D printing. The Army Research Laboratory is, for instance, experimenting with existing materials as well as new combinations of metals and other substances.
But, one new weapon—lethal drones—could be assisted by an old military staple—the shipping container. One drone maker is proposing inserting its new drones in a modified shipping container, which would then be shipped or flown to small islands in the Pacific. In the event of war, the drones could be quickly readied for action, flying long-range missions deep into enemy territory while armed with precision-guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.