US Air Force News

[James1978]

US Air Force receives first new Compass Call electronic warfare plane
By Stephen Losey
September 12, 2023

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Air Force has received its first EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft from contractors BAE Systems and L3Harris Technolgies, industry officials announced Tuesday.

BAE Systems said in a release that the Air Force will next start combined developmental and operational testing for this Compass Call, the first of 10 aircraft planned for the Air Force.

The new EC-37B fleet will replace Air Combat Command’s decades-old EC-130 aircraft, which the service is now retiring. BAE builds the electronic attack components of the new Compass Call in Hudson, New Hampshire, and L3Harris integrates that mission-specific hardware into a Gulfstream G550 business jet at its facility in Waco, Texas.

The Compass Call will conduct a variety of electronic warfare missions to jam enemy signals, including communications, radar and navigation systems. BAE said this will include suppressing enemy air defenses by blocking their ability to transmit information between weapon systems and command-and-control networks.

In a roundtable at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Space and Cyber conference here, ACC Commander Gen. Mark Kelly said the EC-37B’s jamming capabilities will protect friendly ships and aircraft from enemy attack, and allow them to get closer to their targets.

The EC-37B’s mission and capabilities won’t be wildly different from the EC-130, Kelly said, especially since the Air Force updated the older Compass Call’s capabilities.

But the altitude and speed improvements that will come with the EC-37B will make it a considerable step up from its predecessor, Kelly said. The EC-130 has a ceiling of 25,000 feet and can fly at up to 300 miles per hour. G550s can fly past 40,000 feet and nearly twice that speed, which an L3Harris executive in 2021 said would allow the EC-37B to be able to target a greater range of enemy activities.

The EC-130 also is worn out, Kelly said, and the Air Force needs the EC-37 “yesterday.”

“There comes a point of every piece of equipment’s lifespan, we’ve squeezed every last drop of combat capability out of it,” Kelly said.

BAE would not say exactly what day, and where, the first new Compass Call was delivered. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for more information on the delivery.

Kelly said the EC-37B testing will primarily focus on making sure the integration of its mission systems is working correctly, since the Gulfstream air frame it is built from is known to be a solid aircraft.

That will include making sure the new Compass Call’s systems are talking to each other at the right time, and that its jamming capabilities are functioning and not straining the plane’s environmental systems, Kelly said.

“When we dial up the jamming power, or ask for a specific waveform, that waveform needs to come out in exactly the amount of ramp and power and frequency we asked for,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he doesn’t see the Air Force’s planned drone wingmen, or collaborative combat aircraft — some of which might be able to conduct electronic warfare operations — as something that could eventually replace the Compass Call.

Instead, he said, CCAs will complement the Compass Call fleet, along with the F-35 and F-15EX’s own EW capabilities.

However, he warned that the Air Force needs to make sure that as these different platforms operate in the same airspace, that they don’t inadvertently interfere with one another.

“It’s all got to merge together, and they have to operate — and oh, by the way, [let’s] be sure they don’t [commit] electronic fratricide on each other,” Kelly said.

[James1978]

Raytheon to max out AMRAAM production for ‘foreseeable future,’ exec says
A Raytheon spokesperson said an upgraded domestic variant of the missile would be fielded “by the end of the year,” with an international variant expected to pass a critical milestone in “late 2023 or early 2024.”

By Michael Marrow
September 06, 2023

WASHINGTON — High demand will keep Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) production line humming at max capacity for years to come, according to the weapon’s manufacturer, Raytheon, as the US and other Western powers seek to ship more of the missiles to Ukraine and replenish their own stocks.

“Historically, we’ve been somewhere between 500-800 rounds a year,” said Paul Ferraro, president of air power for RTX subsidiary Raytheon, during a Thursday briefing with reporters. Current orders have ramped that number up to nearly 1,200, Ferraro said, hitting the company’s ceiling for the missile’s production. And given current demand, Ferraro said he expects that level of production to continue “for the foreseeable future.”

Ukraine has been hungry for the missiles to bat down a range of airborne threats from aircraft to cruise missiles. Billed as air-to-air missiles, Kyiv has primarily used AMRAAMs with the ground-based National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), also made by Raytheon, though the impending transfer of F-16s means AMRAAMs could soon be fired from Ukrainian aircraft as well.

In addition to cranking out the current suite of AMRAAMs, Raytheon recently sought to upgrade hardware and software of the venerable missile with a new effort called form, fit, function refresh (F3R), which resulted in updated domestic and international variants. Though testing of the missiles is ongoing, the domestic AIM-120D-3 and international AIM-120C-8 upgraded weapons have already been ordered.

A Raytheon spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the US-focused D-3 variant would be expected to field “by the end of the year.” The spokesperson also said that a critical milestone called a functional configuration audit for the international C-8 would be completed in “late 2023 or early 2024,” with fielding expected “soon to follow.” The C-8 variant recently successfully completed its first flight test, RTX announced September 1.

Since neither missile has been formally fielded, upgraded AMRAAMs already produced will be warehoused by the company, the spokesperson explained, and once a fielding decision is made, the missiles will be delivered “as soon as possible to the locations designated by the USG [US government].”

The spokesperson added that the upgraded missiles could be available to Ukraine within the next three-to-five years, following a June $1.15 billion award to Raytheon to build more of the weapons, including orders for Ukraine. Even so, Ferraro claimed that older generation AMRAAMs shipped to the country have achieved a “90%+ success rate” against targets.

The Pentagon also separately placed a $192 million AMRAAM order on Thursday evening to procure already-fielded missiles from “various sources,” according to the contract announcement, with approximately $8 million obligated from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The Raytheon spokesperson said that program aims to “facilitate an international buy-back program and ensure Ukraine is able to continue receiving AMRAAMs that are effective regardless of version.”

Beyond AMRAAM’s own upgrades, the Air Force is set to replace the weapon with a successor known as the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) developed by Lockheed Martin. In May, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the JATM will “hopefully” begin production this year.

[James1978]

Air Force acquisition chief on tanker plans and negotiations with Boeing
"We just kind of need to get their no-kidding ground truth of, ‘this is what we think we can deliver and when we think we can deliver it,'" Andrew Hunter, the service's acquisition chief, said in a Sept. 5 interview at the Pentagon.

By Michael Marrow
September 11, 2023

AFA 2023 — As the Air Force forges ahead with plans to procure a new batch of tankers, officials are trying to avoid shiny promises from industry and instead get at the absolute truth about what America’s industrial base can deliver, the service’s top weapons buyer tells Breaking Defense.

“We just kind of need to get their no-kidding ground truth of, ‘this is what we think we can deliver and when we think we can deliver it,'” Andrew Hunter, the service’s acquisition chief, said in a Sept. 5 interview at the Pentagon.

In the spring, Hunter disclosed that the service is leaning toward procuring 75 more of Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus tankers in lieu of a competitive effort that would see a bid from Lockheed Martin’s LMXT. Since then, a top Air Force official emphasized that the service still isn’t sure on its acquisition strategy, something Hunter said reflects the procurement process working.

“Mechanically, what has happened is we’ve gotten farther along in the requirements process,” Hunter said, which features input from the joint staff and settling on a more concrete idea about what’s being asked of industry.

“I’ve characterized it [the tanker procurement] as, it is very much in line with the KC-X requirement, which ultimately the KC-46 was selected to fulfill,” he said. The new tanker requirement, as Hunter has previously explained, entails more “modest changes,” like certain communications improvements.

For years, the Air Force planned to follow the KC-46A with KC-Y and KC-Z contests, which on paper would have involved new offerings from industry for each phase. But as time went on, Air Force officials started to hint that a KC-Y competition was looking less likely.

In March, Hunter revealed that both KC-Y and KC-Z were no more, and that officials would in the near term pursue a more limited tranche of tanker procurement to get to a next-gen air refueler in the 2030s. A critical factor in the service’s decision, Hunter said, was the timeline for delivery, which he reiterated would be a key element of the service’s assessment for its upcoming tanker buy.

That currently is down to either more KC-46s, or potentially the Lockheed-Airbus teamup of a converted A330 MRTT branded as the LMXT. However, Lockheed will need to stand up an industrial base to support the effort, which company officials have said will require a minimum but unspecified amount of tanker production to make their business case viable.

Hunter heeded those comments, noting that “one of the concerns has been the number of how many aircraft because there is some in industry who are looking at possibly establishing new production lines, and so the number of aircraft is important to them.”

After the Air Force recently released a notice to industry that a request for information (RFI) for the tanker program would be posted this month, Hunter said “what we gave them in the RFI essentially was a range. So the desire being we really want to understand, like, where’s the break point, and what can they do and what can’t they do?

“We’ve kind of heard some feedback on that informally, but obviously an RFI is a little more formal,” he added.

But asked whether he still anticipated that Boeing’s Pegasus may be the answer for the Air Force’s tanker plans, Hunter sounded more noncommittal than he did to start the year.

“To me, it’s all going to be dependent on what we get back in the RFI, and what they can actually deliver,” he said.

Looking ahead to the Air Force’s futuristic tanker, known as the Next-Generation Air Refueling System (NGAS), Hunter warned that a looming continuing resolution (CR) could adversely impact the service’s near-term plans to move analysis work on the next-gen tanker forward.

Negotiations With Boeing
Last year, Hunter said that the Air Force had “struggled” to reach certain agreements with Boeing. In the year since, “we’ve definitely made some progress,” he said, though “it’s still a challenge.”

The acquisition czar explained that Boeing was having difficulty submitting proposals in a timely fashion with all the information officials needed — hampering their ability to even begin negotiations on factors like cost.

“It’s very frustrating, I think, to all of us, if we just sit around waiting for a proposal to get to the point where we get to argue about pricing,” he said. “In some cases that’s been many months, to even as long as a year or more.”

Problems with proposals aren’t “unique to Boeing,” Hunter added, but the company’s size is the issue: as one of the Air Force’s largest contractors, “the volume of proposals… stands out,” he said.

The plane builder has taken steps to improve its performance, Hunter said, such as by making internal investments and “staffing up and improving their ability to put together compliant proposals and do so in a much more timely way.” Boeing declined to comment.

“They are endeavoring to meet that goal,” Hunter said. “And I think it serves us both if we can do that.”

[James1978]

Hundreds of Airmen Stuck Waiting To Start Pilot Training As Shortage Persists
Sept. 11, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

While some future Air Force pilots wait for cockpits to open up so they can start training, they’re doing everything from public affairs to marshaling aircraft on the flight line, the head of the 19th Air Force said recently—highlighting the persistent problems the service faces in trying to reduce its pilot shortage.

As of Aug. 25, more than 900 Airmen are waiting to enter the pilot training pipeline, according to 19th Air Force data. Roughly a quarter have been waiting less than three months, but most are between three and nine months. Another quarter—around 220 people—have been stuck even longer.

“Wings will have these lieutenants that are waiting pilot training work in their PA shop,” Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn said during a briefing with reporters. “They will have them work in their command post, doing reporting. They will actually take some of them and teach them how to not necessarily do aircraft maintenance, but put them out on the flight line and marshal aircraft in and park, and get them connected to the mission. So they are kept gainfully employed unless they choose to take some leave and obviously take some time off.”

A spokesperson later added that future pilots also knock out their survival training while they wait. Some are assigned to earn postgraduate degrees.

The total number of those waiting is down slightly from a peak of more than 1,000, Quinn said. The Air Force is limited in part by the availability of its training aircraft, all of which entered service at least two decades ago.

The T-38 Talon, in particular, used to train future fighter and bomber pilots, is “frankly, struggling,” Quinn said. Production of the T-38 ended in 1972.

“The mission capable rates of the T-38 are not good,” Quinn added, noting that engine problems have forced the 19th Air Force to limit flying hours—and, in turn, prevented it from reaching its goal of producing 1,500 pilots per year.

The T-38 is not alone in experiencing issues, however. A batch of T-6 Texan IIs were damaged in a recent storm at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Quinn said. And the service is in the process of retiring the T-1 Jayhawk, with aircraft already heading to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

Long term, the Air Force plans to replace the T-38 with the T-7 Red Hawk, an advanced new trainer currently undergoing flight testing. However, the Red Hawk has been delayed several times through development and is now not expected to reach initial operational capability until 2027.

There’s nothing Quinn can do to speed up the T-7’s schedule, but he said gaining it in the fleet will not only increase availability but also improve the overall training pipeline.

“[The T-38] a 60-plus-year old design that was designed for a type of aircraft that we haven’t flown in 30 years, and we spend a lot of time in training teaching young aviators how to do things that they don’t need in their next aircraft,” Quinn said.

In fiscal 2022, the Air Force produced 1,276 pilots. In 2023, that number increased slightly to around 1,350, but still short of the goal of 1,470. With demand from commercial airlines strong, the need for new pilots to replace those leaving the service is persistent. The 19th Air Force’s goal will be 1,500 new pilots in fiscal 2024, a spokesperson said.

Quinn said the overall pilot shortage remains at around 2,000, roughly the number it has been for the last several years. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin previously told Congress that the Air Force has taken steps to ensure the shortfall doesn’t mean aircraft aren’t flying.

“In order to have a healthy pilot professional force, you need first and foremost the combat cockpits filled,” Allvin said in April. “Then you need the trainer cockpits filled. Then you need the test cockpits filled. And after you fill out the cockpits, then our next priority is the leadership—you want the leadership positions filled. And then after you have all those filled, then you go to the staff positions. That is where we are currently absorbing our shortage: in the staffs.”

Echoing Allvin, Quinn said that not filling staff positions has a long-term effect by stunting the “mentoring and growth of the officers that we expect to be able to lead our Air Force in the future.”

Pilots aren’t the only staffing shortfall—even the civilian flight instructors who teach future pilots on simulators are undermanned, Quinn said.

“We have openings at all of our locations. In some cases manning is down at the 60 to 70 percent level,” Quinn said. “What we ended up having to do is take military instructors to fill those civilian gaps and teach them and when you’re teaching the sims, you’re not teaching the flights.”

To address that problem, the 19th Air Force is trying to hire remote simulator instructors to entice civilians who don’t live near Air Force training centers. At the moment, though, Quinn’s team is working on a latency issue affecting that effort.

[MikeKozlowski]

Hundreds of Airmen Stuck Waiting To Start Pilot Training As Shortage Persists
Sept. 11, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

While some future Air Force pilots wait for cockpits to open up so they can start training, they’re doing everything from public affairs to marshaling aircraft on the flight line, the head of the 19th Air Force said recently—highlighting the persistent problems the service faces in trying to reduce its pilot shortage.

As of Aug. 25, more than 900 Airmen are waiting to enter the pilot training pipeline, according to 19th Air Force data. Roughly a quarter have been waiting less than three months, but most are between three and nine months. Another quarter—around 220 people—have been stuck even longer.

“Wings will have these lieutenants that are waiting pilot training work in their PA shop,” Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn said during a briefing with reporters. “They will have them work in their command post, doing reporting. They will actually take some of them and teach them how to not necessarily do aircraft maintenance, but put them out on the flight line and marshal aircraft in and park, and get them connected to the mission. So they are kept gainfully employed unless they choose to take some leave and obviously take some time off.”

A spokesperson later added that future pilots also knock out their survival training while they wait. Some are assigned to earn postgraduate degrees.

The total number of those waiting is down slightly from a peak of more than 1,000, Quinn said. The Air Force is limited in part by the availability of its training aircraft, all of which entered service at least two decades ago.

The T-38 Talon, in particular, used to train future fighter and bomber pilots, is “frankly, struggling,” Quinn said. Production of the T-38 ended in 1972.

“The mission capable rates of the T-38 are not good,” Quinn added, noting that engine problems have forced the 19th Air Force to limit flying hours—and, in turn, prevented it from reaching its goal of producing 1,500 pilots per year.

The T-38 is not alone in experiencing issues, however. A batch of T-6 Texan IIs were damaged in a recent storm at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Quinn said. And the service is in the process of retiring the T-1 Jayhawk, with aircraft already heading to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

Long term, the Air Force plans to replace the T-38 with the T-7 Red Hawk, an advanced new trainer currently undergoing flight testing. However, the Red Hawk has been delayed several times through development and is now not expected to reach initial operational capability until 2027.

There’s nothing Quinn can do to speed up the T-7’s schedule, but he said gaining it in the fleet will not only increase availability but also improve the overall training pipeline.

“[The T-38] a 60-plus-year old design that was designed for a type of aircraft that we haven’t flown in 30 years, and we spend a lot of time in training teaching young aviators how to do things that they don’t need in their next aircraft,” Quinn said.

In fiscal 2022, the Air Force produced 1,276 pilots. In 2023, that number increased slightly to around 1,350, but still short of the goal of 1,470. With demand from commercial airlines strong, the need for new pilots to replace those leaving the service is persistent. The 19th Air Force’s goal will be 1,500 new pilots in fiscal 2024, a spokesperson said.

Quinn said the overall pilot shortage remains at around 2,000, roughly the number it has been for the last several years. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin previously told Congress that the Air Force has taken steps to ensure the shortfall doesn’t mean aircraft aren’t flying.

“In order to have a healthy pilot professional force, you need first and foremost the combat cockpits filled,” Allvin said in April. “Then you need the trainer cockpits filled. Then you need the test cockpits filled. And after you fill out the cockpits, then our next priority is the leadership—you want the leadership positions filled. And then after you have all those filled, then you go to the staff positions. That is where we are currently absorbing our shortage: in the staffs.”

Echoing Allvin, Quinn said that not filling staff positions has a long-term effect by stunting the “mentoring and growth of the officers that we expect to be able to lead our Air Force in the future.”

Pilots aren’t the only staffing shortfall—even the civilian flight instructors who teach future pilots on simulators are undermanned, Quinn said.

“We have openings at all of our locations. In some cases manning is down at the 60 to 70 percent level,” Quinn said. “What we ended up having to do is take military instructors to fill those civilian gaps and teach them and when you’re teaching the sims, you’re not teaching the flights.”

To address that problem, the 19th Air Force is trying to hire remote simulator instructors to entice civilians who don’t live near Air Force training centers. At the moment, though, Quinn’s team is working on a latency issue affecting that effort.

...This has been a problem at least since I was in - I knew a bunch of aspiring airplane drivers who got their commissions and then twiddled their thumbs for up to six months before the pipeline could get sorted out. I also knew a few cases where people got their commissions....and went home for 3-4 months until they reported to their UPT base.

Mike

[clancyphile]

Tell me again why the USAF didn't buy the T-50 instead of the T-7? Seems like a very dumb move.

[Poohbah]

What is so damn hard about procuring a frickin' trainer?

[MikeKozlowski]

What is so damn hard about procuring a frickin' trainer?

Same reasons we can't get a decent tanker.

Mike

[Rocket J Squrriel]

What is so damn hard about procuring a frickin' trainer?

Same reasons we can't get a decent tanker.

Mike

One word: Boeing.

[kdahm]

Tell me again why the USAF didn't buy the T-50 instead of the T-7? Seems like a very dumb move.

Because the T-50 is an older design with limited production. While it's a decent short-term solution, obsolescence looms. It's also close to twice as heavy as the T-7 with the same engine.

In the meantime, the T-7 was selected in late 2018, Saab starting delivering T-7 sections in 2018, and the first production ones started flying in June. For a new plane, I'd call that just a bit late of timely, but not extraordinarily so. We'd want to sort out problems on the first production models instead of pulling back a bunch for rework. When buying 1000+, rushing into things may not be the right way.

The bigger issue is the delay by the Air Force in getting a new trainer. USAF T-6 production stopped in 2010 with 440 some odd. 50% more would have eased the training pipeline, but Obama. If they'd been serious about replacing the T-38, they should have selected the T-50 around 2006 when the T-37 was retired and started serious procurement. Of course, this was also about the time the Navy stopped the Surface Warfare School and the Army was all about terrorist fighting instead of warfare.

The AF also was looking at leasing some T-50 as a stopgap in 2019 and 2021, but Covid...

[James1978]

RE: T-7
A lot of the delay is tied to the ejection seat the USAF picked. Now how much of that is on Collins Aerospace, and how much might be attributable to crappy systems integration by Boeing - I couldn't say.

LINKS
* Air Force and Boeing Delay T-7A, Citing Escape System Problem
* Escape system problem causes T-7 deliveries to slip to end of 2025
* Fast-Tracked U.S. Air Force T-7A Slowed By Ejection Seat Issues
* GAO blasts T-7 delays, cites ‘tenuous’ Air Force-Boeing relationship

[Poohbah]

RE: T-7
A lot of the delay is tied to the ejection seat the USAF picked. Now how much of that is on Collins Aerospace, and how much might be attributable to crappy systems integration by Boeing - I couldn't say.

LINKS
* Air Force and Boeing Delay T-7A, Citing Escape System Problem
* Escape system problem causes T-7 deliveries to slip to end of 2025
* Fast-Tracked U.S. Air Force T-7A Slowed By Ejection Seat Issues
* GAO blasts T-7 delays, cites ‘tenuous’ Air Force-Boeing relationship

Maybe they're asking the escaping system to do the impossible: chuck the biggest guy safely away from the aircraft without killing the smallest female.

Maybe we need to reel in the extremes of the ejection envelope and simply tell would-be aerial assassins that they must be at least this tall (and no taller than that tall) to go on this ride.

[clancyphile]

Maybe they're asking the escaping system to do the impossible: chuck the biggest guy safely away from the aircraft without killing the smallest female.

Maybe we need to reel in the extremes of the ejection envelope and simply tell would-be aerial assassins that they must be at least this tall (and no taller than that tall) to go on this ride.

But then how would they meet their diversity, inclusion, and equity goals?

The scary thing is that the above question would be asked without any sarcasm.

[Lordroel]

Happy birthday.

[Poohbah]

Happy birthday.

They knew you were going to post that.

[MikeKozlowski]

Happy birthday.

...Oy vey....

Mike

[Lordroel]

They knew you were going to post that.

Should we congratulate Micael, Sweden is not a member of NATO, but it seems it has become the 51st State.

Although on the bright side for once someone didn't use an image of a Russian aircraft

[clancyphile]

Happy birthday.

Don't think those are jets procured by the USAF.

[James1978]

Turbine ‘fatigue’ issue forced F-22 engine retrofit, Air Force says
The Air Force worked with engine-maker Pratt & Whitney to fix the planes in the field and during regular maintenance over three years.

By Michael Marrow
July 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Air Force and engine builder Pratt & Whitney have completed a $21 million, fleet-wide retrofit effort for the F-22 Raptor’s dual F119 engines, after identifying what the Air Force told Breaking Defense was a fatigue issue with turbine blades that led to seven class A mishaps, nearly $23 million in damages but no operational interruption.

Brian Brackens, a spokesperson for the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center, said that the retrofit was prompted by “[a] low cycle fatigue defect in the 2nd stage Low Pressure Turbine Blades.”

Pratt F119 Engine Program Director Julie Ireland said in a statement that “[o]nce root causes had been identified, P&W and the USAF aligned on a corrective action plan, which involved implementing an interim over inspection of production 2nd Stage Turbine Blades while simultaneously making a change in the production process for this part. In pursuing both paths, the issue was eliminated in record time and the fleet was refreshed with inspected and/or updated blades.”

While that statement highlighted a close partnership between the contractor and the Air Force, neither could agree on exactly when the retrofits were completed. A spokesperson for Pratt indicated that the retrofits completed ahead of schedule in December 2022, but Brackens told Breaking Defense, “All field installed and serviceable spares assets were completed by May 2023.”

Pratt previously said that environmental factors prioritized certain engines for the retrofit after the root cause was identified in 2017, though the underlying environmental conditions were not specified, according to a report by Inside Defense. The retrofit effort commenced in 2019.

Ireland explained that the “F119 2nd stage turbine blades extract energy from the high temperature/high pressure combustor gas. This energy is transmitted to the front compressors and provides thrust through the nozzle.”

The fix extended to the engines of all Raptors in the Air Force’s fleet, a spokesperson for the service’s Air Combat Command said in a statement, including those for the Block 20 jets whose retirements could be blocked by lawmakers.

The first class A mishap — the Pentagon’s highest accident classification — stemming from a problem with the turbine blades was logged in 2012, with the final one occurring in 2020, according to data from the Air Force Safety Center [PDF]. (An Air Force official previously said all seven mishaps resulted from the failure of the same component, but that the root cause of its failure was different between the first mishap in 2012 and one later logged in 2017. The new hardware introduced by the retrofit corrects for all previous failures.)

Brackens said about $21 million was spent to carry out the retrofits, which occurred in the field and during scheduled depot visits, and that regular flight operations were not impacted by the issue. No injuries resulted from the mishaps.

“We are very proud of the Pratt & Whitney F119 team’s proactive response and close collaboration with the U.S. Air Force in successfully resolving the Low Pressure Turbine Blade incident. The whole effort is a great example of the diligent, active management that sustains the world-class safety, reliability, and readiness levels that the 5th generation F119 engine provides for the U.S. Air Force,” Chris Johnson, Pratt vice president of fighter and mobility programs, said in a statement.

“Throughout all steps of the process — investigation, inspection, material testing, manufacturing, delivery, and installation — there was an extraordinary teaming effort across the enterprise that enabled the program to quickly identify and implement a solution throughout the fleet in record time. In fact, F119 engine availability was maintained above USAF’s target readiness levels throughout the three-year retrofit program,” Johnson added.

A fifth-generation stealth fighter that precedes the F-35, the Raptor has been praised for the ability of its engines to push the aircraft at supersonic speeds without using its afterburners, often called supercruise. Some 183 Raptors are currently in the Air Force’s inventory, according to a service factsheet. They are set to be replaced with the sixth-gen Next Generation Air Dominance fighter whose contract award is expected next year.

[James1978]

And just like that . . . . the Arizona delegation doesn't care about the A-10 anymore.
I mean, it's almost as if it was never actually about the A-10

Tucson's Davis-Monthan AFB Formally Picked for New Spec-Ops Wing

3 Aug 2023
The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson | By David Wichner

The Air Force has formally chosen Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to host a new Special Operations Command Wing, launching a process that will replace the base's long-lived A-10 close air-support mission over the next five years.

The Air Force said Wednesday it selected D-M as the preferred location to host Air Force Special Operation Command's third "power projection" wing, the new 492nd Special Operations Wing.

The final decision will be made following completion of an environmental impact analysis process, which includes environmental studies and public comment, the Air Force said.

In a joint statement, Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema and Reps. Ruben Gallego and Juan Ciscomani said they welcomed the Air Force's announcement.

"With its year-round flying weather, extensive training range space, and proximity to other military bases, Southern Arizona is a natural choice to establish this Special Operations Wing in the Southwest," they said. "These flying missions are critical to our military's ability to outcompete our adversaries, and this decision is a positive step towards bringing them to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base that will enable the Air Force to proceed with the next set of site reviews to prepare the base for this transition."

Following up plans for the new wing at D-M unveiled in April, the Air Force also detailed the planned shift of existing units to the Tucson base, including the relocation of the current 492nd Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field in Florida and its transition from a support wing into a power projection wing.

As part of the changes, the 47th Fighter Squadron, which has 24 A-10s, the 354th Fighter Squadron (26 A-10s) and the 357th Fighter Squadron (28 A-10s) at Davis-Monthan will be inactivated and their respective A-10s will be retired, the Air Force said.

The 47th and 357th will continue A-10 formal training until inactivation, the Air Force said, without giving a timeline.

D-M hosts a range of other missions, including a major contingent of combat search-and-rescue units, the Air Force's only electronic combat squadron, the command headquarters of the 12th Air Force and the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, the nation's biggest "boneyard" for retired military aircraft.

But local government and business leaders have feared the loss of the A-10 mission would diminish D-M, an important economic engine for the region with about 11,000 personnel and an estimated annual economic impact of some $3 billion.

Jay Bickley, president of the local base support group the DM50, said the group continues to advocate for future flying missions.

"We believe the additional combat search and rescue assets as well as the (Special Operations) Power Projection Wing will be a tremendous addition to the base and the local community," Bickley said in a joint statement with the members of the congressional delegation.

"As our national defense posture evolves to a new region, this next mission ensures that Davis-Monthan — and all of Southern Arizona — continues to be critical to the testing, training, and operational readiness of our military," said Robert Medler, president of the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance.

Other moves planned over the next five years include:

The U-28 Draco reconnaissance plane fleets at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico and at Hurlburt Field will be replaced by the OA-1K Armed Overwatch, a light single-engine turboprop based on an Air Tractor crop duster.

One OA-1K Armed Overwatch squadron will relocate from Hurlburt to D-M.

An MC-130J Commando II squadron will relocate from Cannon to D-M to join the 492nd Special Operations Wing. Based on Lockheed's workhorse Super Hercules transport plane, the MC-130J is used for combat transport and support and aerial helicopter refueling.

An additional MC-130J squadron will activate at D-M.

The 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina and the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will relocate to D-M.

The 492nd Theater Air Operations Squadron will activate at Duke Field in Florida and transfer to Davis- Monthan.

The 34th Weapons Squadron and the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron will relocate to D-M from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, with five HH-60W Jolly Green II rescue helicopters.

The Air Force said the transition of the 492nd Special Operations Wing to a power-projection wing will include all of the Special Operations Command's mission capabilities including strike, mobility, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and will allow the service to focus each power projection wing regionally.

"The transition will also allow AFSOC (the Air Force Special Operations Command) to further diversify its locations to protect against natural disasters by ensuring it can maintain its ability to respond to president-directed missions on very tight timelines," the Air Force said.

The additional location also will allow the Special Operations Command to take advantage of the Barry M. Goldwater Range, a sprawling military training range about 70 miles west of Tucson, the Air Force noted.