July 15, 2022 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
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The Russia-Ukraine war has galvanized Europe and NATO, but facing issues such as high inflation, can defense commitments be maintained?
March 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace
The Pentagon has relaunched its Space Command location search. Here’s why.
By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON — The future location of U.S. Space Command, and all its associated jobs and dollars, won't be coming before the November election, thanks to a directive by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to relaunch the department's search process.
On Tuesday, Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson told the House Armed Services Committee that department leaders are “going to take a holistic look at all of the potential options, all the potential locations" being considered for the combatant command.
“We've been directed to go back, open up the aperture, and look at all of them. And so, that includes — that include bases. It includes perhaps some nontraditional locations. We will absolutely establish the criteria we need for each of these organizations and then base them accordingly,” he added.
And on Wednesday, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett confirmed that the Air Force would be restarting the national competition for Space Command's location.
“We're going to reopen the process, and put forward criteria in detail and invite all who think they have a good shot at it to come and represent their communities for that possible basing choice,” the secretary said. Barrett added that an announcement on the new competition would come “this spring.”
Those comments led to a pointed line of questioning to Esper from Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., who during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing directly asked if the decision to recompete was tied up in electoral politics.
Thompson testified that “the Air Force was directed — and I emphasize the word ‘directed' — to go back and open this up," Jones said. "A cynical person in today's world would think there are some electoral politics coming into play in this.” He then pointedly asked if the decision came from the White House.
A leaked 2019 memo of potential bases listed four locations in Colorado — Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson Air Force Base and Schriever Air Force Base — as well as the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There has been heavy political push from the Florida delegation as well.
Awarding Space Command and its myriad of jobs could benefit politicians running in a swing state such as Colorado or Florida; Jones, a surprise winner in a 2017 special election, is a top target for Republicans in November's election and could potentially benefit should the award go to his native Alabama.
Esper, however, denied there was any push from the White House to influence politics, stating bluntly: “It came from me. I'm the responsible party.”
The reason for the change, he explained, came from discussions with members as far back as his August nomination process.
“During my talks on the hill prior to my nomination, particularly after my hearing here, I visited the House and heard from members on both sides of the aisle that they thought the process that had been run was unfair and not transparent. And there were a number of complaints,” Esper said. “So I directed at that time that we pause in place.
“I took a briefing on it along with [Deputy Secretary of Defense David] Norquist. We did not feel it was transparent enough; that enough states, members etc. had a chance to participate. So we directed it be revisited, and a different approach be taken where [the department would] outline the criteria, the screening criteria by which a place would meet as a qualifier, throw that to all members and offer them to nominate locations,” while being transparent about the criteria and giving rolling updates to Congress as the work progressed.
However, that process took time to get going, and until a month ago was not fully underway, Esper conceded, meaning it will now take “several months” before anything is finalized — almost certainly after November's election is over.
“I'm the one who did it. It was my initiative, simply to make sure that transparency and buy in and consent with the process,” he said. “If it helps assure you, I don't see anything being announced before the election.”
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January 28, 2019 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force receives new KC-46 aircraft, an event decades in the making
By: Valerie Insinna and Jeff Martin EVERETT, Wash., and MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. — On the chilly morning of Jan. 25, just as the sun was beginning to rise, two KC-46 refueling tankers took offfrom Boeing's Everett, Washington, delivery center and began flying toward McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas. Later that day, it touched down, to cheers from airmen assigned to the base's 22nd Air Refueling Wing. It took only minutes for the aircraft to taxi and take to the skies — a welcome lack of drama for a program that has seen prolonged challenges: a virulent competition between two companies, two years of schedule delays and more than $3 billion in cost overrunsthat manufacturer Boeing had to pay out of pocket. The delivery of the first two KC-46 Pegasus planes was almost two decades in the making. As such, the event was treated as a momentous celebration by Boeing officials, who held a ceremony Thursday marking the occasion with its Air Force customer. On Friday, Air Force leadership, congressional representatives and Boeing executives witnessed the aircraft's arrival at McConnell for yet another event. “To me, its personal to bring on this capability,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said after arriving on base. “This is a big day for us.” “I think we all know the journey over the last several years,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Thursday. “It hasn't been easy. In fact, it's been hard. But this team stuck to it. This team worked together.” At the Everett ceremony, Boeing brought in a band to play classic rock songs by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin before the ceremony, dispersed cookies and chocolate lollipops featuring the KC-46, and had a tanker-themed “selfie station” where visitors could take photos of themselves with the Pegasus on display. Over the KC-46 flight test program, the aircraft clocked 3,800 hours in the sky and pumped more than 4 billion pounds of fuel, Muilenburg said. Leanne Caret, who heads Boeing's defense business, said the delivery solidifies the firm's legacy as “the tanker company for the U.S. and the world.” “We're looking at delivering not only great capability that works today, but we're looking at staying on that leading edge of technology going forward, and we will continue to lean in throughout this process,” she told reporters after the event. But numerous obstacles remain. Boeing needs to correct the KC-46's deficient remote vision system — the series of cameras and sensors that are the sole source of situational awareness for boom operators trying to move fuel from the tanker to a receiver aircraft. The company is redesigning that system at its own expense, and Caret declined to comment on the projected costs of the upgrades. In order to hit a contractually obligated milestone, it also needs to move forward with getting wing aerial-refueling pods certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, an event that Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson confirmed will not happen until 2020. Despite those problems, Air Force officials sounded an optimistic note about the current status of the program. Wilson, who previously criticized Boeing for seemingly not paying enough attention to the tanker's problems, touted the new capabilities the KC-46 will bring to the tanker force, such as infrared countermeasures, protection against electromagnetic pulses and armor that will make it more survivable in the field. “This aircraft is able to defend itself in ways that the KC-135 can't. It also has some other capabilities that allow us to refuel completely in the dark,” she said. “So there are things about this aircraft that we're really keen to get into the hands of our airmen.” Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/01/25/the-air-force-gets-its-first-new-kc-46s-an-event-decades-in-the-making
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June 30, 2022 | International, Aerospace
La Grèce va monter dans le F-35 de Lockheed Martin
Après avoir acheté 24 Rafale, la Grèce veut acquérir 20 F-35 à Lockheed Marti...