August 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Moving US F-16s from Germany will ripple far outside the Black Sea region

WASHINGTON — When Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced July 29 the movement of almost 12,000 troops out of Germany, the impact on the U.S. Air Force was seemingly minor.

One F-16 squadron, the 480th Fighter Squadron, would transfer from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to Aviano Air Base in Italy, which already hosts two F-16 squadrons. Meanwhile, KC-135 tankers from the 100th Air Refueling Wing and CV-22 Ospreys operated by the 352nd Special Operations Wing would remain at RAF Mildenhall, England, instead of transferring to Spangdahlem.

At the time, Esper said the shift of F-16s to Italy would “[move] them closer to the Black Sea region and [make those forces] better capable of conducting dynamic force employments and rotational deployments to NATO's southeastern flank.”

However, the strategic and geopolitical implications of the changes could be even more considerable than first thought and play into a range of areas from Germany's fighter contest to the way the U.S. Air Force trains for war, former Defense Department and Air Force officials told Defense News.

Very little is known about when the transfer of forces will take place, how many airmen and their families will be impacted, or how much it will ultimately cost.

“Details for the implementation are still being worked. Some changes will take place soon. Some will take several years,” said Maj. Selena Rodts, a spokeswoman for U.S. Air Forces in Europe. “These are complex issues and take time, including securing Congressional funding to enable the move and to review agreements with prospective host nations to secure the necessary legal frameworks. We are committed to taking the appropriate steps to work through the changes with service members and their families and with our [host nation] counterparts.”

During a July 30 interview with Defense News, outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein expressed support for the planned force structure changes, and said that keeping mobility forces at Mildenhall and transferring the F-16 from Spangdahlem to Aviano would ultimately give commanders in the region more flexibility. Goldfein retired from the Air Force Aug. 6.

“That plan was put in front of the joint chiefs,” he said. “All of us had a chance to take a look at it, comment on it, give advice to [Gen. Tod Wolters, U.S. European Command head] as he went forward. And quite frankly I think it does all of the things Secretary Esper laid out at his press conference.”

Goldfein has a personal interest in the changes. From 2004 to 2006, he served as commander of Spangdahlem's 52nd Fighter Wing, which includes the 480th Fighter Squadron and its support functions, much of which will likely transfer to Aviano.

However, Goldfein was adamant that the move will not leave Spangdahlem vulnerable to closing.

“When you take a look at the amount of travel that we're required to do to be a global military with global reach, you have to have both Ramstein and Spangdahlem,” he said. “It has to do with fuel capacity, it has to do with ramp capacity, it has to do with maintenance capacity, so I think the future of Spangdahlem is absolutely solid and not at risk at all.”

Once the F-16 squadron departs Spangdahlem, the base will have some excess infrastructure. That might be a good thing, said Frank Gorenc, a retired four-star general and former commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

In a future conflict war with a technologically advanced nation such as Russia and China, the U.S. Air Force believes its best chance at ensuring the survival of its people and aircraft is by distributing them across many operating locations — a concept it calls agile combat employment. The extra ramp space and hangars at Spangdahlem could prime it to be critical shock absorber in a major conflict, giving the U.S. Air Force additional capacity to fly in reinforcements from U.S. air bases to defend NATO's Eastern flank.

“We need that infrastructure. And for deterrence and support to the alliance, particularly in NATO, the fundamental concept is that we would reinforce from North America. Well, you have to have a place to go to do reinforcement to enough of a level that would be deterrence enhancing,” Gorenc said. “Maintaining adequate force structure is a direct flap at Putin's strategy at not allowing NATO to get consensus on any kind of reinforcement.”

In 2019, Spangdahlem was the setting for one of the Air Force's major agile combat exercises, Operation Rapid Forge, which involved a two week deployment of F-15E Strike Eagles from the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

With the 480th Fighter Squadron continuing F-16 operations at Spangdahlem, F-15E pilots and maintainers lived and worked out of tents and temporary shelters for the duration of the exercise. But after the transfer of F-16s from the base, the installation could potentially play a more permanent role as a hub for wargames and short-term deployments.

“The Spangdahlem base is a spectacular facility,” Gorenc said. “We have made a big investment into Spangdahlem. It's a base that can accept a lot of force, and I think as an installation it's needed more than the fighter squadron, to be honest.”

What does this mean for Germany's fighter contest?

As the Air Force deliberates the future of the 52nd Fighter Wing, one major question is whether its 52d Munitions Maintenance Group — which sustains and stores tactical nuclear weapons on behalf of NATO — will remain at Spangdahlem or relocate with other elements of the wing.

Should that mission move out of Germany, it could portend some unseen ramifications for the NATO alliance, said Rachel Ellehuus, who was the Pentagon's principal director of European and NATO policy from 2015 to 2018 and is currently with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Germany is embroiled in a national debate over the NATO “nuclear sharing” doctrine, which calls for the country to host B61 nuclear bombs at Büchel Air Base, located about 50 minutes from Spangdahlem. The 52nd Munitions Maintenance Group's 702 Munitions Support Squadron is collocated at Büchel and maintains about 20 B61s which, if authorized by Germany and the United States, could be launched from a German air force Tornado jet.

In April, German defense officials acknowledged a proposal to split its multi-billion dollar fighter buy between the two competitors, with a potential purchase of 93 Eurofighter Typhoons as well as 45 Boeing-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. The Super Hornets and Growlers would be used to carry on the nuclear-sharing mission.

But removing U.S. Air Force F-16s from Germany could weaken the case for buying American fighters and hosting nuclear bombs, Ellehuus said.

“When we sell somebody U.S. aircraft or kit, we always make the case you're not just buying just the plane but the joint training and long-term relationship. You lose that argument, in a way,” she said.

Given the political tensions between the U.S. and Germany, the pullout could potentially reinforce arguments from those who argue a European fighter, not an American one, is the correct option if the nuclear mission is no longer needed.

“It doesn't have to spell the end of the nuclear mission for Germany, but it will add more fuel to the fire to those arguing that Germany should withdraw from the nuclear mission,” Ellehuus said. “They will see this as yet another reason the U.S. can't be trusted and that a European solution is needed to follow on Tornado.”

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-air-power/2020/08/13/moving-us-f-16s-from-germany-will-ripple-far-outside-the-black-sea-region/

On the same subject

March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 8, 2019
ARMY Unit-ASRC Construction LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $128,657,500 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of Long Range Discrimination Radar power plant at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Anderson, Alaska, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 military construction; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $128,657,500 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Anchorage, Alaska, is the contracting activity (W911KB-19-C-0001). Carothers Construction Inc., Oxford, Mississippi, was awarded a $22,821,540 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction a standard-design, general-purpose storage building with loading dock. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in El Paso, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 7, 2020. Fiscal 2015 and 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $22,821,540 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0020). DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $19,502,855 modification (P00207) to domestic and foreign military sales (Netherlands and Kuwait) contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for aviation field maintenance services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; Germany; and Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2019. Fiscal 2010 and 2019 foreign military sales; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the combined amount of $19,502,855 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Metova Federal,* Cabot, Arizona, was awarded a $16,706,404 hybrid (cost and firm-fixed-price) contract for Security Force Assistance Brigade support. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Fort Benning, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of April 14, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $6,922,987 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Benning, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W911SF-19-F-0014). NAVY Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded $85,718,447 for modification P00017 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm target contract (N00019-17-C-0015). This modification provides for the upgrade of four MV-22 aircraft from the Block B to the Block C configuration in support of the Common Configuration Readiness and Modernization Program (CC-RAM). In addition, this modification provides for the planned maintenance interval effort for one of the CC-RAM aircraft. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (93 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (7 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2017, 2018, and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $85,718,447 will be obligated at time of award, $22,314,593 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $41,835,268 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-4301 to staff, operate and accomplish the efforts associated with supporting a nuclear regional maintenance department at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut, in support of returning mission-ready submarines to the fleet. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $17,400,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. SRI International, Menlo Park, California, is awarded an $11,312,731 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for low frequency high power satellite calibration research and development. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to a total of $63,482,059. The places of performance will be at the contractor's facility located in Menlo Park, California (65 percent); and at the Bluestar Antenna Facility in Stanford, California (35 percent). Work is expected to be completed March 7, 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through March 2024. Fiscal 2019 Navy Working Capital funds in the amount of $50,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and no funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured using sole-source procedures under request for proposal N00173-18-R-WR07. The Naval Research Laboratory, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00173-19-C-6000). Cabrillo Enterprises* (doing business as R.W. Little*), National City, California (N55236-16-D-0005); South Bay Sand Blasting and Tank Cleaning Inc.,* San Diego, California (N55236-16-D-0006); and Surface Technologies Corp.,* Atlantic Beach, Florida (N55236-16-D-0007), are awarded a combined $10,000,000 for modifications under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contracts to exercise Option Year Three for deck covering removal and non-skid installation services on board Navy ships. Each contractor shall provide all management, administrative services, materials, tools, equipment, labor, rigging, scaffolding, utilities (i.e. air, water and electricity, etc.) and required services/support to accomplish deck covering removal and non-skid installation on board Navy ships within a 50-mile radius of San Diego, which may include Oceanside, California. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, which may include Oceanside, California, and is expected to be complete by April 2020. No funding is being obligated at the time of award. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. ALLTRACK, Inc.,* Pendleton, Indiana, is awarded a maximum amount $10,000,000 requirements contract for railroad maintenance and repair services at the Naval Support Activity, Crane. The work to be performed provides for maintenance and repairs on railroad trackage. Services include, but are not limited to, replacement of rails, ties, crossings and accessories, surfacing, alignment, dressing of ballast, ditch maintenance, and incidental related work. No task orders are being issued at this time. All work will be performed in Crane, Indiana, and the term of the contract is not to exceed 48 months, with an expected completion date of March 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as future task orders will be primarily funded by working capital (Army) and working capital (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-19-D-7701). Web Business Solutions Inc.,** Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $9,595,573 task order (M67854-19-F-7822) under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-18-D-7821) for support services to the Command and Control Training and Education Center of Excellence (C2TECOE). The C2TECOE main effort is to provide a continuum of standards-based C2 systems instruction and home station training. Work will be performed at Camp Pendleton, California (27 percent); Quantico, Virginia (23 percent); Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (17 percent); Okinawa, Japan (16 percent); Twentynine Palms, California (10 percent); and Marine Corps Base Hawaii (7 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 10, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,595,573 will be obligated at the time of award and funds will expire the end of the current fiscal year. The base contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with four offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contract activity. AIR FORCE Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nevada, has been awarded a $23,702,941 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P-00021) to previously awarded contract FA8509-17-C-0002 for the permanent installation of the MC-130J Airborne Mission Networking (AbMN) Program. This modification provides for the procurement of additional hardware and labor necessary to support the AbMN program through flight test. Work will be performed in Sparks, Nevada, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 16, 2021. Fiscal year 2018 procurement funds in the amount of $12,293,268; and fiscal year 2019 procurement funds in the amount of $11,409,673 are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $67,977,580. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity. S&K Engineering & Research, St. Ignatius, Montana, has been awarded an $18,581,032 indefinitely-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability Logistics Engineering Support System for Pods and Integrated Systems program. This contract provides for RAMPOD, which supports the collection of maintenance and inventory data for all Air Force pods, support equipment and specialized avionics. The services to be provided are continuous operations, system engineering, and software sustainment support for RAMPOD program, servers, applications and users. Work will be performed in St. Ignatius, Montana, and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2022. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $6,408,000 are being obligated (on the first task order) at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8523-19-D-0003). Peerless Technologies, Fairborn, Ohio, has been awarded an $18,470,211 task order under the General Services Administration One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and technical support services to the gravity systems program. This task order provides for efforts to transition from procurement to sustainment require a diverse staff to formulate a solid framework for systems engineering, testing, sustainment, and operational support for integration of the B61-12 All Up Round and legacy gravity systems. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be complete by March 7, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive and four offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,300,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Foreign Military Sales funds will also be used during the task order period of performance. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9422-19-F-5003). DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Guidehouse LLP, McLean, Virginia, is being awarded a maximum $12,473,349 labor hour contract modification to previously awarded contract HQ042318F0055 to exercise an option for audit finding remediation support services. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of March 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Defense-wide operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $12,473,349 are being obligated at the time of this option award. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $24,537,771. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-18-F-0055). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Galois Inc., Portland, Oregon, was awarded a $9,925,508 modification to previously awarded contract HR0011-18-C-0013 for the System Security Integrated Through Hardware and firmware (SSITH) program. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $16,553,298 from $6,627,790. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon (88 percent); Menlo Park, California (7 percent); Framingham, Massachusetts (4 percent); and San Francisco, California (1 percent), with an expected completion date of March 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,949,500 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business **Service disabled veteran-owned small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1780721/
July 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace

US eases military UAS export rules
By Harry Lye The US has eased rules governing the export of military unmanned aerial systems (UAS) making it easier for it to sell UAS internationally. Under the new rules, announced by US State Department Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs René Clarke Cooper, UAS that fly under 800kph (497mph) will no longer be subject to “presumption of denial” that made approving their sale more difficult. The change affects the US's implementation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Under the new rules, possible UAS sales will be vetted using rules already in place for other exports. Commenting on the change during a telebriefing, Cooper said: “All proposed transfers affected by this change will continue to be subject to the same rigorous review criteria that we have outlined in our UAS Export Policy, our Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, and of course, the Arms Export Control Act, as well as the specific non-proliferation criteria that has been identified in the MTCR Guidelines. “The United States is going to continue conducting our robust review procedures for exporting UAS technology to support global non-proliferation objectives, and we encourage members of the MTCR, as well as non-members such as China, to do the same.” The new rule change applies to UAS but will not affect systems such as cruise missiles, hypersonic aerial vehicles and ‘advanced unmanned aerial combat vehicles'. Cooper added that the subset of UAS covered by the new regulations ‘poses no risk for weapons of mass destruction delivery'. Commenting on the move in a statement the White House said: “While the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is critical in slowing proliferation and promoting peace and security, it is in dire need of modernization as it applies to UAS. In a sector of rapidly-evolving technology, the MTCR's standards are more than three decades old. “Not only do these outdated standards give an unfair advantage to countries outside of the MTCR and hurt United States industry, they also hinder our deterrence capability abroad by handicapping our partners and allies with subpar technology. More than two years of discussion with MTCR partners were unable to produce consensus on this overdue reform.” The White House added that the move would bolster US National Security “by improving the capabilities of our partners and increase our economic security by opening the expanding UAS market to United States industry,” adding that it saw the decision as an example for other MTCR members to follow. https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/us-eases-military-uas-export-rules/
December 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Three Generations Of Fighters Compete For Limited Resources
Steve Trimble December 10, 2020 Fateful decisions loom in the next 12 months for a global fighter market caught up in a pivotal debate over how much to invest in each of three generations of aircraft designs now in production or development. As next-generation fighters continue to take shape on industry drawing boards—and in one case, a secret flying demonstrator—a final decision in 2021 over whether to buy another batch of aircraft with a Cold War legacy or Lockheed Martin's 20-year-old-design F-35A stealth fighter confronts Canada, Finland, Israel, Switzerland and, perhaps most surprisingly, the U.S. Internal U.S. Air Force fighter road map capped the F-35 at 1,050 Canada, Finland and Switzerland contract awards expected in 2021 With 13 purpose-built fighter types now in production globally for export customers (excluding about half as many modified training jets), military buyers are spoiled with competitive options and motivated sellers. But a series of contract awards planned for the next 12 months could induce a long-awaited reckoning, especially among production lines for fighters produced in Europe and the U.S. Multiple decisions in favor of so-called fifth-generation capabilities could nearly complete the F-35's dominance over European and American fighter demand for the next decade. Alternatively, if the balance of new contracts falls to fourth-generation rivals, the F-35 is likely to continue to face intense competition from the same aircraft it was designed to replace. For now, pressure from F-35 competitors is surging, including from within the type's biggest customer. The U.S. Air Force's program of record for the F-35A stands at 1,763 total aircraft, a figure that has not budged in nearly two decades, despite changes to the assumptions that determined the original number. The pressure on the Air Force's orderbook for F-35As has been building for at least six years. Speaking on condition of anonymity in November 2014, a senior Air Force official said the service internally was considering a purchase of 72 new Boeing F-15s, Lockheed Martin F-16s or even the Navy's Boeing F/A-18E/Fs. Hindsight suggests the disclosure may have been intended as a negotiating ploy with Lockheed over F-35 prices, but the idea clearly never died. Indeed, the Air Force signed an order in July 2020 for the first eight of “at least” 144 Boeing F-15EXs, replacing an aging fleet of F-15C/Ds. By 2018, those F-15C/Ds already had outlived their original service-life estimates as victims of the Defense Department's decision in 2010 to truncate production of the Lockheed F-22 after 185 deliveries. With only a longeron replacement necessary to maintain structural integrity, the Air Force still was planning to keep the F-15 C/D fleet in service for at least another decade until a next-generation fighter became available. But then the Air Force discovered another major structural flaw: The entire fleet required new wing skins to remain airworthy. Rather than invest in a major structural refit, the Air Force announced plans in 2019 to retire the fleet. But the manner of the F-15C/D replacement plan came as a shock. Breaking from a two-decade-old strategy to buy only stealthy fighters, the Air Force decided to bypass the F-35A and order F-15EXs instead. With cockpit, flight-control and wing upgrades mostly funded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Air Force developed a new, long-term role for a fourth-generation fighter. Such a role already had been envisioned behind closed doors by a new organization on the Air Staff. Created in January 2018 as an internal think tank, the Air Force Warfighting Integrating Capability (AFWIC) office had torn up the long-standing assumption that only stealthy fighters could perform a useful role. By the end of 2018, the AFWIC's team of analysts had adopted a new fighter road map, according to a source. The road map envisioned a “great power” war. The principal role for each F-35A was to launch two stealthy cruise missiles—Lockheed AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM)—from just inside defended airspace. That “kick-down-the-door” pairing would be combined with mass launches of multiple JASSMs each from F-15Es and F-15EXs, the source said. Other missions—namely, defensive counter-air and homeland defense—could be performed by the F-35. But other aircraft such as F-15EXs and F-16s also could be used. Driven by this new appreciation for a portfolio of fighter capabilities, the AFWIC team also reconsidered how many of each type would be needed. No fighter program escaped scrutiny, including the long-standing Air Force commitment to acquire 1,763 F-35As. AFWIC's fighter road map by the end of 2018 had capped F-35A deliveries at about 1,050 jets, the source said. Although that cap implies a 40% cut to the original plan for the F-35A, no change to the program of record was necessary, the source said. The Air Force has ordered 451 F-35As so far, according to the Aviation Week Network Military Fleet database. If new aircraft orders are maintained at a rate of 2-2.5 squadrons a year—48-60 jets—for the foreseeable future, the Air Force is at least 10 years away from hitting the 1,050 cap in AFWIC's fighter road map. In the meantime, the Air Force faces other decisions about whether to invest in more fourth-generation fighters, F-35As or next-generation aircraft. The Air Force still operates 232 Block 25 and Block 30 F-16C/D jets, which were delivered in the mid-1980s, according to the Military Fleet database. Air Force officials have said they expect to make a fleet replacement decision for these so-called “pre-block” F-16s in 4-7 years. When the Air Force established the program of record for buying 1,763 F-35As, the plan assumed replacing all of those pre-block F-16s. As a replacement decision enters the Pentagon's five-year budgeting horizon, however, Air Force officials have been more flexible. Last February, the head of Air Combat Command, who was then Gen. Mike Holmes, said low-cost, attritable aircraft would be considered for the pre-block F-16 replacement in the 2024-27 time frame. The fighter road map completed by AFWIC in 2018 considered the F-16 Block 70/72 and a potential fighter version of the Boeing T-7 as candidates for light-fighter sales to foreign militaries, the source said. “The trade space in the fighter road map is real, and the trade space is a combination of payload, range, speed and survivability,” the source said. “And I don't need all of one thing. I need a portfolio of things.” Over the past decade, the same debate has raged within the air forces of other countries, particularly for those that cannot afford to operate more than one type of fighter. The F-35 has fared well in those decisions. Among countries that have been offered the F-35, only Germany has rejected the stealth-fighter option so far. That record will be put to the test next year against a backdrop of national economic pressures imposed by the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Switzerland, Finland and Canada are evaluating proposals. A year-long political crisis in Israel delayed plans to order either F-15EXs or more F-35As, or both. A resolution to the country's presidential election was not reached until after the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Israel, to consume the attention of decision-makers. In other countries with a fighter aircraft-design capability, the debate over spending on tactical aviation includes a third dimension. Following several years of study and analysis, the next generation of designs is beginning to assume a tangible form. This is especially true in the U.S. defense industry. In a startling, mid-September announcement, Will Roper—assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics—declared the service had developed, built and flown a flight demonstrator for the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Roper's announcement was light on details, including the time frame of the flight, details of the aircraft design and the status of the program now. But the concept of the need for an NGAD flight demonstrator was suggested in September 2019 by Gen. David Goldfein, who was then chief of staff of the Air Force. Several months before, the Air Force released a five-year budget plan that included a $6.6 billion funding cut for the NGAD program, a roughly 50% reduction compared to spending levels over the same period from only a year before. The spending cut made it unclear what had become of a notional concept popularized in 2015 and 2016 by U.S. defense contractors of a “sixth-generation fighter,” featuring a supersonic aircraft design lacking vertical tails and carrying advanced weapons such as an embedded high-energy laser for shooting down incoming missiles. Instead, the Air Force's leaner spending plan for the NGAD in 2019 supported a different concept for a next-generation fighter. Rather than a standalone aircraft that could, much like the F-35 and F-22 design requirement, prosecute a mission by itself with a diverse array of sensors to detect and identify targets in the air or on the ground in any weather, along with all of the munitions necessary to destroy those targets, the Air Force increasingly has emphasized adopting a family of systems to “close the kill chain.” The sensing and munition capabilities would be distributed among multiple aircraft that often must collaborate to complete a mission. At the same time, the Air Force is investing in several new technologies related to air dominance. A Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion program aims to deliver an advanced new turbofan engine in fiscal 2025, with GE Aviation and Pratt & Whitney developing rival designs. A new family of unmanned aircraft systems designed to augment or operate independently of crewed fighters is being developed under the Air Force Research Laboratory's Skyborg program. In his remarks in September 2019, Goldfein said the NGAD program now is focused on maturing five different technologies that the Air Force does not intend will come together on a single platform. A prototype aircraft, he said, was necessary to demonstrate those technologies in flight. In Europe, progress is being made toward a next-generation fighter. By August 2021, France, Germany and Spain expect to conclude Phase 1A of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) demonstrator program, with the goal of defining a wide range of technologies that will be carried into a flight demonstration scheduled to begin under Phase 1B at the end of 2026. A collaboration among the UK, Sweden and Italy under the Team Tempest consortium will enter 2021 with renewed support. A long-awaited defense review in London finally was published in November showing support for the Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative under a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) fund for military research over the next four years. Tens of billions more will be needed to complete development of the NGAD, FCAS and Tempest over the next two decades, even as Western governments continue to split modernization investments among three fourth-generation fighters—the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter and Saab JAS 39E/F Gripen—and the F-35. Maintaining the right balance of spending in each category will consume the debate over fighter aircraft decisions on the horizon. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace-defense-2021/defense-space/three-generations-fighters-compete-limited-resources

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