Thursday, 8 March 2012
U.S. Air Force
Morning Report
DO NOT FORWARD WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM PRODUCT OWNER
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BUDGET
AOL Defense: Industry, Unions Step Up Pressure To Block Automatic Defense Cuts (1)
WSJ: Plan to Cut Air Guard Puts Costs in Spotlight (5)
NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE
GSN: White House May Share Sensitive Antimissile Data With Russia, Lawmakers Told (7)
WIN TODAY’S FIGHT
The Diplomat: America’s Pacific Air-Sea Battle Vision (8)
CARING FOR AIRMEN
WR Patriot: Air Force to expand testing for prescription drug misuse May 1 (11)
MODERNIZATION
Portsmouth Patch: Ayotte Makes Case for New Tankers at Pease (12)
ACQUISITION EXCELLENCE
Bloomberg: Boeing Tanker Making ‘Excellent Progress,’ Air Force Says (15)
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
AFP: US demands 'actions' from Iran in nuclear talks (17)
OF INTEREST
AP: Talk of U.S. military in Syria divides Congress (19)
BUDGET
1. Industry, Unions Step Up Pressure To Block Automatic Defense Cuts
(AOL Defense, 7 Mar 12) … Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: The aerospace industry and its largest union have started a new campaign to
pressure Congress and the administration to prevent sequester, which they say could result in the
loss of more than one million jobs from aerospace, defense and related activities.
2. Gulf state governors oppose Air Force proposal to move planes used post-disasters out
of Texas
(AP, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
FORT WORTH, Texas - Five Gulf Coast states’ governors are fighting a U.S. Air Force proposal to
move eight planes out of Texas that are used for post-hurricane evacuations.
3. House Committee To Probe Global Hawk Decision
(Aviation Week, 7 Mar 12) … Jen DiMascio
The staff of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee is going to delve into the details of the
U.S. Air Force decision to stop production of the Global Hawk Block 30 and put 18 of the unmanned
aerial vehicles in storage, the panel’s top Democrat says.
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4. DoD officials make case to Congress for BRAC
(Federal Times, 7 Mar 12) … Andy Medici
The Defense Department’s top installations official pressed lawmakers Wednesday to approve for two
new rounds of base closures — one in 2013 and one in 2015.
5. Plan to Cut Air Guard Puts Costs in Spotlight
(Wall Street Journal, 7 Mar 12) … Julian E. Barnes
The Air Force this week unveiled a raft of proposed cuts to its National Guard and reserve positions
around the country, drawing criticism from lawmakers worried about losing coveted military bases in
their districts.
CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN THE NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE
6. U.S. Officials Defend Delay for Next Missile Intercept Test
(Global Security Newswire, 7 Mar 12) … Elaine M. Grossman
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Department officials on Tuesday defended their decision to delay a
planned missile defense intercept test to late this year, saying more time would be needed before
they are ready for the trial launch.
7. White House May Share Sensitive Antimissile Data With Russia, Lawmakers Told
(Global Security Newswire, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
The Obama administration is studying the possibility of providing some sensitive technical information
on U.S. missile defense technology to Russia, officials told a Senate panel on Tuesday.
PARTNER WITH JOINT AND COALITION TEAM TO WIN TODAY’S FIGHT
8. America’s Pacific Air-Sea Battle Vision
The U.S. must stop taking an “instant pudding” view of military planning. The Air-Sea Battle plan is
the best hope to ensure security in the Pacific.
(The Diplomat, 7 Mar 12) … Rep. J. Randy Forbes
In the late summer of 2011, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta signed the Air-Sea Battle (ASB)
operational concept into effect, and shortly thereafter stood up the Air-Sea Battle Office at the
Pentagon to help implement its core tenets.
9. Six U.K. Soldiers Missing, Believed Killed, in Afghan Blast
(Bloomberg, 7 Mar 12) … Eddie Buckle
Six British soldiers are missing, believed killed, following an explosion in southern Afghanistan
yesterday, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.
10. Afghan Air Force Probed in Drug Running
(Wall Street Journal, 7 Mar 12) … Maria Abi-Habib
KABUL - The U.S. is investigating allegations that some officials in the Afghan Air Force, which was
established largely with American funds, have been using aircraft to ferry narcotics and illegal
weapons around the country, American officials told The Wall Street Journal.
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DEVELOP AND CARE FOR AIRMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES
11. Air Force to expand testing for prescription drug misuse May 1
(Warner Robins Patriot, 7 Mar 12) … Gene Rector
The Air Force and other military branches continue to expand testing for drug and chemical misuse.
In a Wednesday announcement, the Air Force Surgeon General public affairs office said testing for
commonly abused prescription drugs would begin May 1. The announcement follows a Jan 31 notice
from the secretary of defense encouraging abusers of prescription medications to seek treatment
before testing began.
MODERNIZE OUR AIR, SPACE AND CYBERSPACE INVENTORIES, ORGS AND TRAINING
12. Ayotte Makes Case for New Tankers at Pease
(Portsmouth Patch, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, touts value of 157th Air Refueling Wing in meeting with head of Air
Force Air Mobility Command.
13. Rolls-Royce and US Air Force launch fuel savings flight tests on C-130 aircraft fleet
(World Aeronautical Press Agency, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
Rolls-Royce (RR), the global power systems company, and the United States Air Force will soon
begin flight tests of an engine upgrade for the T56 turboprop engine, which powers the C-130H
transport aircraft. The Series 3.5 upgrade is designed to deliver both fuel savings and reliability
improvements, as well as improved Life Cycle Costs.
14. Blog: Legislature passes resolution supporting F-35s
(AZ Central, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
A decision on whether the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will come to Luke Air Force Base has yet to
come. But the state leadership made their thoughts loud and clear.
RECAPTURE ACQUISITION EXCELLENCE
15. Boeing Tanker Making ‘Excellent Progress,’ Air Force Says
(Bloomberg, 7 Mar 12) … Tony Capaccio
Boeing Co. KC-46 aerial refueling tanker “continues to make excellent progress,” more than a year
after the company won the contract, the Air Force’s mobility chief said today.
16. USAF seeks to bypass aircraft engine manufacturers
(Flight International, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
The US Air Force is considering buying engine parts for some of its aircraft from third-party
manufacturers, the service's top officials told the US Congress on 6 March.
GLOBAL AIR, SPACE, and CYBERSPACE ENVIRONMENT
17. US demands 'actions' from Iran in nuclear talks
(Agence France-Presse, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
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WASHINGTON - The United States Wednesday rebuffed an Iranian warning that new nuclear talks
would fail if they were used to exert pressure, demanding assurances Tehran was not building an
atomic bomb.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
18. US Intercepts Only 1 of 3 Drug Smugglers It Tracks, Says General
(AOL Defense, 7 Mar 12) … Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The U.S. military command covering South America intercepts only about a third of the drug
shipments and other illegal traffic that it knows about, because it and allied nations simply lack the
assets to intercept most of the suspect boats and aircraft that their intelligence identifies, locates, and
tracks.
19. Talk of U.S. military in Syria divides Congress
(AP, 7 Mar 12) … Donna Cassata
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the nation’s top military leader delivered a
sober assessment Wednesday of Syria’s sophisticated air defenses and its extensive stockpile of
chemical weapons in a strategic reality check to the demand for U.S. military action to end President
Bashar Assad’s deadly crackdown on his people.
HEADLINES
CNN at 0530
'Iran is not telling us everything,' U.N. atomic agency chief says
Report: Cig ads may influence youth
Torture alleged in Syrian hospitals
FOX News at 0530
Huge Solar Storm Heads to Earth
Pols Urge Trademark of 'GI Bill' to Curb Alleged Abuse
Department of Veterans Affairs reports more misplaced headstones
NPR at 0530
How Far Apart On Iran Are GOP Candidates, Obama?
Egypt's Moves Leave Democracy Advocate Bewildered
Uncertainty Looms As Greek Debt Deadline Nears
USA Today at 0530
USA TODAY review finds support for energy loans
New iPad gets crisper screen, 4G speed
Disaster declared on 2 soaked Hawaiian isles
Washington Post at 0530
U.S. tracks Syrian money, but picture murky
Mexico City’s ancient Xochimilco floating gardens in ecological peril
4.6-magnitude earthquake rattles Haitians
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FULL TEXT
BUDGET
B1
Industry, Unions Step Up Pressure To Block Automatic Defense Cuts
(AOL Defense, 7 Mar 12) … Otto Kreisher
http://defense.aol.com/2012/03/07/industry-unions-step-up-pressure-to-block-automatic-defense-cut/
WASHINGTON: The aerospace industry and its largest union have started a new campaign to
pressure Congress and the administration to prevent sequester, which they say could result in the
loss of more than one million jobs from aerospace, defense and related activities.
The new drive, kicked off with a news conference today (3/7), is called "Stop the Clock." It includes
the gimmick of distributing a small computerized clock that counts down the days, hours, minutes and
seconds until the automatic cut of $1.2 trillion in government spending -- more than half in national
security, aerospace and homeland security funds -- would kick in.
It was 300 days-plus and dropping at the National Press Club event, held by the Aerospace Industry
Association (AIA) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
But with a keen appreciation for what can get the attention of politicians -- particularly in an election
year -- the primary weapon was a report prepared by Deloitte, a prominent financial analytical firm,
that shows the number of jobs, economic impact and taxes aerospace and defense spending
contributes to every state. And, in a national map that condenses that data, it also shows in red
numbers, the number of jobs Deloitte said would be threatened if sequester is not stopped.
AIA President Marion Blakey said copies of the report are being sent to every member of Congress.
The 81-page report, and a letter also were sent to President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, and 10 other administration officials.
The report and the letter pound home the facts that the aerospace and defense industry "is a strategic
national asset that makes irreplaceable contributions to America's bottom line, driving 2.23 percent of
national GDP and supporting more than 3.5 million U.S. jobs."
The biggest impact of the two industries and their suppliers are in California, Washington, Texas and
Florida, with revenues in the tens of billions of dollars. But the report finds an effect in every state,
down to $81.7 million in revenue and 386 jobs in Wyoming. Somehow, the chart shows a loss of 473
jobs from sequester, apparently accounting for indirect employment.
And in case members of Congress are not impressed by the statistics, IAM international President
Thomas Buffenbarger said union members in every state would carry the message to their federal
representatives. It is one thing for lawmakers to ignore organizations like AIA or IAM who hound them
in Washington, but it is something else when they go home and have to face their constituents.
"These are voters," Buffenbarger said.
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Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, now head of Deloitte's defense sector, said the threatened cut
of more than $500 billion in defense funds would hurt national security at a time of rising threats from
China and Iran. Because most of the funding cuts would have to come from procurement and
research and development, the impact would be particularly harmful, given the advanced age of Air
Force aircraft and decline in the traditional U.S. technological superiority.
AIA officials also warned that further cuts in FAA funding would stop work on the already delayed next
generation air traffic control system, which could block the expected growth in commercial aviation.
(The state-by-state data is available at www.secondtonone.org)
RETURN
B2
Gulf state governors oppose Air Force proposal to move planes used post-disasters out of
Texas
(AP, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gulf-state-governors-oppose-air-force-proposal-to-move-planes-used-post-disasters-out-oftexas/2012/03/07/gIQAqfNfxR_story.html
FORT WORTH, Texas - Five Gulf Coast states’ governors are fighting a U.S. Air Force proposal to
move eight planes out of Texas that are used for post-hurricane evacuations.
The governors sent a letter to the Obama administration this week in response to proposed Air Force
budget cuts. They include moving the Texas Air National Guard C-130 Hercules planes away from a
Fort Worth base in two years.
The letter signed by governors of Texas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi says moving
the aircraft means it would take days instead of hours to mobilize them in a disaster.
An Air Force spokeswoman referred questions to the Air National Guard on Wednesday. Guard
officials wouldn’t say if the planes will be moved to Montana as some governors and congressional
leaders have reported.
RETURN
B3
House Committee To Probe Global Hawk Decision
(Aviation Week, 7 Mar 12) … Jen DiMascio
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aerospacedaily&id=news/asd/2012/03/07/02.xml&headline=House%20Committee
%20To%20Probe%20Global%20Hawk%20Decision
The staff of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee is going to delve into the details of the
U.S. Air Force decision to stop production of the Global Hawk Block 30 and put 18 of the unmanned
aerial vehicles in storage, the panel’s top Democrat says.
Fast becoming one of the most unpopular budget decisions of fiscal 2013 on Capitol Hill, the Air
Force’s move to mothball its high-tech UAVs in favor of maintaining its fleet of U-2 intelligencePage 6 of 30
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gathering aircraft drew fire from a number of members of the powerful spending committee at a
March 6 hearing.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Mike Donley have pointed out that the
service stands to save $2.5 billion because of the decision during the next five years. Schwartz said
March 5 that the U-2’s electro-optic/infrared sensor and signal capabilities are better and that
reliability on the Global Hawk is an issue.
Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.), the top Democrat on the spending committee, said putting the aircraft in a
hangar “is not acceptable to this member,” suggesting that the Air Force find another taker—either
special forces or NATO.
“If the Air Force isn’t going to use them, we’ve got to find a home for them,” Dicks said.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) pointed out that just last year, Congress appropriated billions to buy three
more of the Block 30 birds.
Schwartz told him moving ahead with production of those aircraft “would not be prudent.”
Republicans Rep. Bill Young (Fla.), the subcommittee chairman, and Rep. Jo Bonner (Ala.) also
questioned the decision.
Dicks pointed out a flaw in the Air Force’s budget documents—that the operation and maintenance
budget includes adjustments predicated on retiring the U-2 and updating the Global Hawk. “Is this an
indication that the decision was done in a rushed manner?” Dicks asked.
After the hearing, he said that it is premature to say whether the committee will consider legislation on
the Block 30 program, but added, “I’m not ruling anything out.”
Dicks also suggested “leveraging” the $6 billion investment in non-recurring engineering costs for the
Navy’s P-8A aircraft to craft a replacement for the E-8 Joint Stars program. “To me it’s a no-brainer,”
he said.
RETURN
B4
DoD officials make case to Congress for BRAC
(Federal Times, 7 Mar 12) … Andy Medici
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/03/military-brac-officials-make-case-congress-030712f/
The Defense Department’s top installations official pressed lawmakers Wednesday to approve for two
new rounds of base closures — one in 2013 and one in 2015.
Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and the environment, said the five
rounds of base closures from 1991 through 2005 avoid $12 billion annually in spending on base
support, leasing and personnel — enough to buy 300 Apache attack helicopters or four submarines
every year. Robyn appeared at a hearing of the House Appropriations subcommittee for military
construction.
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The 2005 base closure round, which accounts for $4 billion annually of the savings, is not
representative of the savings DoD can achieve in future rounds because the emphasis that year was
not on savings but on reorienting the military to face new threats.
“Because the focus was on transforming installations to better support forces — as opposed to saving
money and space — it is a poor gauge of the savings that the department can achieve through
another BRAC round,” Robyn said in her written testimony.
Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and the environment,
said future rounds will help the Army eliminate excess capacity from force reductions. According to
Robyn, the Army will see a force reduction of 72,000 over five years.
Terry Yonkers, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, said
that, even after closing seven installations and realigning 63 others, the service’s excess capacity
costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
“This excess capacity can only be effectively eliminated by closing installations,” Yonkers said in
written testimony.
The 2005 round of base closures and realignments cost about $35 billion to implement, while all four
previous BRAC rounds combined cost $26 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office.
RETURN
B5
Plan to Cut Air Guard Puts Costs in Spotlight
(Wall Street Journal, 7 Mar 12) … Julian E. Barnes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203961204577267802974684374.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The Air Force this week unveiled a raft of proposed cuts to its National Guard and reserve positions
around the country, drawing criticism from lawmakers worried about losing coveted military bases in
their districts.
Members of Congress are pressing for more information, with some arguing against the cuts on the
grounds that fixed costs for National Guard units are less than those for active- duty forces.
The Air Force proposed cutting 6,000 Air National Guard and reserve positions out of about 178,100
nationwide, and 3,900 active-duty jobs from about 332,800.
Among states hardest hit by the cuts, Pennsylvania would lose about 1,500 positions in 2013;
Michigan would lose about 1,100; New York would lose about 1,000; Iowa would lose nearly 800; and
Ohio would lose about 700 positions.
"I'm unconvinced that lopsided cuts to an Air Guard with years of institutional knowledge and combat
experience is a suitable course of action," said Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.), who has regularly
argued that the Guard delivers more "bang for the buck."
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) questioned the cost analysis used by the Air Force.
"The Air Force should use a cost-benefit analysis that looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the
active and reserve forces," he said. "It's not clear that such a process has been used."
Air Force Chief of Staff Norton A. Schwartz said in a statement that he worked with leaders of the Air
National Guard and Reserve to come up with the right balance between the forces.
"A smaller, ready force is preferable to a larger force that is ill-prepared because it lacks adequate
resources," Mr. Schwartz added.
New research, commissioned by the Air Force, suggests that the conventional wisdom in Congress
and elsewhere that military reserves are cheaper than the active-duty force may be mistaken.
Albert Robbert, a scholar at Rand Corp., a think tank with long-standing ties to the military, said the
research, which is in the preliminary stage, shows that Guard units are only cheaper when they aren't
heavily used. When the military heavily uses its cargo planes, fighter jets and air-refueling tankers, as
it has in recent years, the active-duty force is generally more efficient.
"Until the operational demands on the Air Force subside, you would be better off closing reserve units
and keeping active ones," Mr. Robbert said.
Under non-combat conditions, the reserves have cost advantages, according to the Rand research.
Their more spartan bases are cheaper. It costs less to maintain an airplane assigned to a Guard
base, in part because the Guard's older, more experienced pilots can stay proficient with fewer overall
training hours.
But because they are supposed to be part-time jobs, they aren't as easily deployed repeatedly or for
long periods, according to the research. And, partly because of demands by lawmakers to maintain
Guard bases in their home states, Guard units are more dispersed across the country, so are smaller,
with fewer planes. That further drives up the costs of operating on a full-time, war footing compared
with more concentrated active-duty bases.
The proposed cuts come as the Defense Department sets about cutting $487 billion over the next
decade. Further cuts may be in store. If Congress doesn't act to reverse parts of a 2011 debt-ceiling
deal, the Pentagon will be forced to impose deeper cuts.
The new Air Force reductions face strong opposition from almost all of the nation's governors and the
state National Guard adjutant generals, a powerful lobby on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he would
question Air Force leaders later this month on the proposals.
RETURN
CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN THE NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE
N1
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U.S. Officials Defend Delay for Next Missile Intercept Test
(Global Security Newswire, 7 Mar 12) … Elaine M. Grossman
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/us-officials-defend-delay-next-missile-defense-intercept-test/
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Department officials on Tuesday defended their decision to delay a
planned missile defense intercept test to late this year, saying more time would be needed before
they are ready for the trial launch (see GSN, Feb. 14).
Testifying before a House panel, Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, who heads the Pentagon’s Missile Defense
Agency, said his organization would postpone reattempting a flight test first carried out in December
2010, when an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle failed to hit an incoming dummy warhead.
The kill vehicle is the crucial front-end technology for Ground-Based Interceptors, the central weapon
in the nation’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.
O’Reilly’s agency has 26 interceptors at Fort Greely in Alaska and four of the weapons at
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which “protect the United States against a limited ICBM raid
size launched from current regional threats,” he told lawmakers. Pentagon officials recently
announced they could field an additional eight interceptors in Alaska by 2016, bringing the total to 38
(see GSN, March 2).
Designed to destroy incoming enemy ballistic missile re-entry vehicles outside the atmosphere, the
EKV technology has scored three flight test successes to date aboard Ground-Based Interceptors,
according to O’Reilly’s agency. Overall there have been just eight successful intercepts using GBI
system technology in 15 flight tests.
The December 2010 failure -- one of two misses that year -- led to a redesign for Raytheon Missile
Systems’ EKV system, the Army three-star general said in written testimony for a hearing of the
House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee (see GSN, Feb. 2, 2010).
During the last intercept attempt, the weapon launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
but failed to hit a target missile over the Pacific Ocean (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2010).
This year the Missile Defense Agency plans to initially conduct a nonintercept flight test of the
Ground-Based Interceptor in July, using what O’Reilly called the “upgraded” EKV design. Hoping to
have corrected the technical problem, the agency will then retry the more challenging intercept test by
the end of 2012, he said.
“Extensive ground testing and modeling have demonstrated with high confidence” that the EKV fault
was associated with “space-related dynamic environments which caused the EKV to fail in the final
seconds of the test,” Rick Lehner, an MDA spokesman, said in response to a reporter’s questions.
“The first generation EKV now deployed in Alaska and California do not have this design issue.”
O’Reilly characterized the effort to achieve success in these upcoming GBI flight tests as “MDA’s
highest priority.”
A December intercept retest would represent a 90-day delay from earlier plans, a setback that
appeared to trouble subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner (R-Ohio).
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“We won't see return flight tests for the [redesigned] kill vehicle for two months more than projected,
[delayed] to July 2012. And the return-to-flight intercept test for the [redesigned] kill vehicle will be
delayed three months to December 2012,” the lawmaker said at the hearing. “Yet the nuclear missile
programs of Iran and North Korea continue to expand.”
Most worrisome for national missile defense is Pyongyang’s “continued development of long-range
missiles and potentially a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile and their continued development of
nuclear [weapons],” Turner said. “North Korea is in the process of becoming a direct threat to the
United States.”
However, David Ahern, deputy assistant Defense secretary for portfolio systems acquisition, warned
against rushing key developmental steps in the GBI program.
“The flight test pace of about one per year is the best that we've been able to do on average over ...
about a decade. That's because these tests are extremely complex. There's over a terabyte of data
that's collected during these tests,” said Ahern, testifying alongside O’Reilly on a four-witness panel.
“I'm all for testing at the most rapid pace possible, but you have to assess and analyze the results of
the tests in order to learn from them.”
O’Reilly added that in the case of the EKV system, he and senior program engineers opted for the
new test delays after assessing findings of an expert panel that reviewed the 2010 failure.
“As we looked at the results emerging from the last flight test in the failure review board, we did
identify a component that had an error that was not apparent -- you couldn't test it with the facilities on
the ground,” O’Reilly told lawmakers during the hearing. “So we have re-established new
specifications that we believe will be robust, and we'll prove that in a flight test this summer.”
O’Reilly also said he and his technical advisers were dissatisfied with quality lapses they discovered
in the production of certain kill vehicle components. Neither the agency leader nor the other witnesses
identified the specific parts in question.
“It was in the review of the factories and the plants themselves that we saw that we needed more
stringent production processes,” O’Reilly said. “Unfortunately, these devices are the very first ones
you use when you build up [an] enhanced kill vehicle. And so by replacing them with productionrepresentative devices -- actually will cause a delay, because we had to start over the production of
these [kill vehicles].”
The general, who has headed the Missile Defense Agency since November 2008, said he wanted to
ensure that the kill vehicle that is intercept-tested late this year would be “production representative.”
Building a test weapon that matches systems that will be manufactured in quantity into the future
“gives us the confidence, based on the results of a successful intercept, that in fact we can put the
rest of the production line into operation,” O’Reilly said.
The nonintercept test in July, though, is to be performed with “an existing part” and is aimed at
demonstrating “mitigations to the problems that were discovered in the earlier flight test” with that
previous-design part, said Michael Gilmore, who directs the Pentagon’s Operational Test and
Evaluation office.
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For the December test and in future production, “they're building a new part and they have to make
certain that they're building it to the right tolerances, under the right conditions,” Gilmore explained,
also testifying on Tuesday before the House subcommittee. “And so the intercept test, I agree,
should be postponed until we can have a fully production-representative part in the test.”
Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), the House panel’s ranking member, said she supports
taking a methodical approach to fixing and testing the EKV technology.
“I've always been one of those people who thinks it's important that we get the testing right and
understand what we should have before we begin to acquire any more of that,” she said. “In the
GMD program, which stands at about a 45 percent test success rate, it means determining the
causes of the recent test failures, and [ensuring] that they're adequately resolved and corrected
before buying additional costly interceptors.”
RETURN
N2
White House May Share Sensitive Antimissile Data With Russia, Lawmakers Told
(Global Security Newswire, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/white-house-may-share-sensitive-antimissile-data-russia-congress-told/
The Obama administration is studying the possibility of providing some sensitive technical information
on U.S. missile defense technology to Russia, officials told a Senate panel on Tuesday (see GSN,
March 6).
Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Brad Roberts said the administration is pursuing formal talks
with Russia that were first initiated by the George W. Bush administration on a technical military
collaboration accord that might encompass the sharing of some classified information, Reuters
reported.
In an appearance before a House Armed Services subcommittee, Roberts did not say what specific
technical information could be delivered under the possible deal.
Congress moved last year to require the Obama administration to give lawmakers at least two
months notice on such data sharing following reports the White House was considering providing
specific information on the burnout velocity of U.S. Standard Missile 3 interceptors to be fielded in
Europe as part of a NATO missile shield. Republican lawmakers are especially insistent that Russia
not be provided with cutting-edge "hit-to-kill" interceptor technology, which the White House has
promised it would not do (see GSN, Jan. 18).
The administration reportedly hopes sharing SM-3 burnout velocity data would mollify Russian
concerns the interceptors could pose a threat to its long-range nuclear missiles. The Kremlin has
threatened to pursue an arms buildup in the Kaliningrad region, which borders NATO states, if an
accord on missile defense is not reached with the United States.
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In defending the potential data exchange, Roberts pointed out that President Obama is not the first
U.S. leader "to believe that cooperation could be well-served by some limited sharing of classified
information of a certain kind if the proper rules were in place to do that."
"The Bush administration headed down precisely the same path," the deputy assistant secretary said.
The United States is "making no progress" in having Russia remove its objections to NATO-U.S.
missile defense plans, he acknowledged.
The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency told the House panel he was not aware of any effort by
the administration to provide Russia with hit-to-kill technology.
"I never received a request to release classified information to the Russians," Army Lt. Gen. Patrick
O'Reilly testified beside Roberts.
The GOP-controlled House Armed Services Committee would support a bill to prohibit the White
House from providing sensitive antimissile technology to Moscow in return for diplomatic concessions
or other favors, an anonymous congressional aide said (Jim Wolf, Reuters, March 6).
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced plans to convene a
multinational forum on missile defense in May, ITAR-Tass reported.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov made the announcement following formal talks with his
Ukrainian opposite, Dmitry Salamatin.
"I informed the Ukrainian defense minister about our position over the deployment of some
components of the U.S. missile defense system in Europe," the Russian defense chief said. "We
intend to keep working with all partners and [to] explain our position. We are also planning to attract
independent experts."
Serdyukov said invitations would be extended to "all countries concerned," especially Asian and
European nations (ITAR-Tass, March 7).
RETURN
PARTNER WITH JOINT AND COALITION TEAM TO WIN TODAY’S FIGHT
P1
America’s Pacific Air-Sea Battle Vision
The U.S. must stop taking an “instant pudding” view of military planning. The Air-Sea Battle plan is
the best hope to ensure security in the Pacific.
(The Diplomat, 7 Mar 12) … Rep. J. Randy Forbes
http://the-diplomat.com/2012/03/08/americas-pacific-air-sea-battle-vision/
In the late summer of 2011, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta signed the Air-Sea Battle (ASB)
operational concept into effect, and shortly thereafter stood up the Air-Sea Battle Office at the
Pentagon to help implement its core tenets.
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This effort, according toGen. Norton A. Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Adm. Jonathan
W. Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, will help the services better organize, train, and equip
themselves to provide U.S. Combatant Commanders with the capabilities necessary to maintain
operational access in sophisticated anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) environments. This will be of
particular importance in the western Pacific Ocean, where China is building its own A2/AD capabilities
in an effort to deny the U.S. entry in its near-seas.
For Air-Sea Battle to be successful and enduring, however, Congress must forge a partnership with
the Pentagon to properly support its requirements going forward.
Throughout the last six decades, America’s military strength has helped preserve a relatively stable
geo-strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific. However, in the past decade China has rapidly
modernized its military, including another double digit military increase next year, with aspirations of
supplanting the U.S. position. If present trends continue, the regional balance of power could tilt in
Beijing’s favor as it is increasingly able to deter U.S. forces from entering the region, coerce
neighboring states, or – should conflict ensue – win a rapid victory. In response, the United States
must work to simultaneously sustain a level of credible deterrence in the region while reassuring
allies, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and strategic partners like
Singapore. Air-Sea Battle is now at the center of this effort.
In short, the Air-Sea Battle Office aims to define initiatives to develop the capabilities and integration
necessary to help Combatant Commanders conduct integrated, cross-domain operations in A2/AD
environments. According to Schwartz and Greenert, Air-Sea Battle seeks to use “Networked,
Integrated Attack-in-Depth” to “disrupt, destroy, and defeat” (NIA-D3) adversary capabilities. More
specifically, the joint force (integrated air, ground, and naval forces) armed with resilient
communications (networked) aims to strike at multiple nodes of an enemy’s system (attack-in-depth)
along three lines of effort. If we can consider these lines in terms of an enemy archer, one could
choose to blind the archer (disrupt), kill the archer (destroy), or stop his arrow (defeat). Balanced
capabilities geared towards executing all three will be required.
Secretary Panetta testified before the U.S. House Armed Service Committee in October that he
believed “Congress must be a full partner in our efforts to protect the country.” Indeed, like Air-Land
Battle during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the success of Air-Sea Battle will hinge on the support
of the Congress.
In the late 1970s, advances in Soviet military capabilities prompted U.S. war planners to develop a
joint warfighting doctrine known as Air-Land Battle that aimed to sustain a credible military balance in
Europe. This doctrine focused on developing capabilities and maximizing the joint effectiveness of the
two services to deter Soviet aggression and prevent coercion of Western European states. After AirLand Battle was finalized in early 1980s, the Army worked to build a consensus around the effort, first
within the department and then with members of Congress through a series of briefings. These
briefings described the doctrine and the weapons coming into production that would be the basis of
this major doctrinal transition. Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, Congress supported this
effort by funding programs like the M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley team of ground combat vehicles, the
Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS), attack helicopters like the AH-64A Apache, and Air Force
assets like the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon, among others. Ultimately, Air-Land Battle and the
concepts found in Field Manual 100-5 reinforced deterrence in the European theater during the Cold
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War and influenced the training and operational planning that led to success during the 1991 Gulf
War.
While the Navy and Air Force have fashioned the Air-Sea Battle concept, established a new office to
shepherd this effort, and advocated for the resources necessary to support its implementation, it will
be up to Congress to authorize and provide the requisite funding for this initiative. Congress should
begin by rejecting an “instant pudding” mindset that looks only at current problems while failing to
adequately plan and then provide resources for long-term endeavors like Air-Sea Battle. Endless
continuing resolutions, defense cuts contained in the Budget Control Act of 2011, and the
“sequestration” process that essentially gambled away our defense budget for political purposes are
all signs of a budgeting process that is ill-prepared for properly resourcing the Nation’s long-term
defense. Indeed, the overarching Joint Operational Access Concept(JOAC), of which Air-Sea Battle
serves as one key pillar, warns that one of the major threats to its implementation is that it could be
“economically unsupportable in an era of constrained Defense budgets.”
At its highest level, Congress will need to maintain a Navy fleet with an adequate number of aircraft
carriers, attack submarines and surface combatants. The recent decision to revise the Navy’s
planned 313-ship fleet downward, including the early decommissioning of 7 Ticonderoga-class
cruisers and the delayed procurement of a Virginia-class attack submarine and an LHA amphibious
assault ship, all reflect a trend in the wrong direction. The Air Force will also need a fleet with a
balanced mix of F-22 and F-35A 5th generation fighters and a modernized B-2 bomber fleet.
In the decade ahead, Congress must invest in new, low-signature, high-endurance technologies to
project power at greater distances, while maintaining freedom of maneuver in denied or limited
access environments. The Navy will require an Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance
and Strike aircraft (UCLASS) that can strike targets at ranges up to 1,500 nautical miles. Such an
investment would allow a carrier strike group to operate further out to sea thereby reducing or
negating the strategic advantage offered by a Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM).I’m
particularly concerned about this program, given the Navy’s decision to reportedly cut $240 million in
FY13 and push the initial operating date from 2018 to 2020. The Navy will also need to field a more
capable replacement for the Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile with much longer range for both its
surface fleet and submarines to negate the PLA Navy’s advantage in this area. Moreover, the Navy
must seek to further its integration of air and cruise missile defense capabilities. Last, to prevent a
critical capability gap in long-range strike as our guided missile submarines retire between 2020 and
2030, the Navy will be compelled to field additional Virginia-class submarines equipped with a
payload module that expands the strike volume of Tomahawk missiles.
For its part, the Air Force will need a new Long-Range Strike Bomber that has the range and
survivability to execute missions deep inside enemy territory. As competitors’ air dominance fighters
continue to improve in capability, the Air Force may have to also consider re-opening the F-22
production line to increase its current fleet of 185 fighters. As our adversaries bring online more
robust anti-satellite capabilities and challenge our preeminence in the space domain, the Air Force
must also investigate ways to increase the redundancy and survivability of its constellation of
communication, GPS and ISR satellites.
The services will also have to develop new doctrine and invest in training consistent with the Air-Sea
Battle concept, including, for instance, the ability to conduct operations in an environment where
command and control are degraded by an adversary.
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The Air-Sea Battle Office is still only months old, but in the year ahead the Navy, Air Force, and ASB
Office will have to make a more concerted effort to brief Members of Congress and professional staff
on the A2/AD threat and the importance of specific investments the services require to meet the
concept’s demands. At the same time, the services will need to guard against allowing every program
to be portrayed as critical to Air-Sea Battle’s success. Given the department’s tightening budget, it will
require a careful balance.
Finally, I hope we can work to bring our allies into this effort. As Air-Sea Battle was formulated in
2010 and 2011, a sense of curiosity and confusion arose amongst our friends about just what our
efforts entailed. It would be beneficial if the department could comprehensively address these
concerns in the months ahead, as well as identify productive ways states like Japan and Australia
might contribute.
While the department has constructed a concept that will enable our air and naval force to effectively
project power in A2/AD environments, Air-Sea Battle will remain incomplete without the enduring
political and budgetary support of the Congress. Similar to the role it played in the early 1980s, it will
be up to the Congress to ensure the shifting balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region is reversed
by properly investing in the capabilities necessary to project power throughout the region.
RETURN
P2
Six U.K. Soldiers Missing, Believed Killed, in Afghan Blast
(Bloomberg, 7 Mar 12) … Eddie Buckle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/07/bloomberg_articlesM0IC1A6S972801-M0IH3.DTL
Six British soldiers are missing, believed killed, following an explosion in southern Afghanistan
yesterday, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.
The six soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, were on a mounted patrol in the Helmand area when their Warrior
armored vehicle was struck by an explosion, the ministry said in a statement from London today. If
the deaths are confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of U.K. lives in Afghanistan since 2006 and
would take the total fatalities among British service personnel there to more than 400 since 2001.
"This is a desperately sad day for our country and a desperately sad day for the families concerned,"
Prime Minister David Cameron said in televised comments. "This work will increasingly be carried out
by Afghan soldiers, and we all want to see that transition take place."
The U.K. has 9,500 troops in war-torn Afghanistan, most of them operating from Camp Bastion in the
southern province of Helmand. The U.S.-led military coalition aims to weaken the Taliban opposition
to force the insurgents into peace talks, while training the Afghan army and police to take over
security by end-2014. Cameron has pledged to withdraw British combat troops by then.
Koran Protests
Protests over the burning of Korans at a U.S. air base led to attacks on U.S. personnel in Afghanistan
last month. Two American advisers were shot dead in the Interior Ministry Feb. 25, while nine
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Afghans were killed and two American soldiers wounded in a suicide car-bombing in eastern
Afghanistan Feb. 27.
Coalition advisers remain barred from Afghan ministries out of fear for their safety.
If the deaths of the British soldiers in yesterday's explosion are confirmed, it would be the biggest
casualty toll in a single incident in Afghanistan since Sept. 2, 2006, when an explosion on a Royal Air
Force Nimrod reconnaissance plane killed all 14 on board minutes after a mid-air refueling operation.
A government inquiry blamed BAE Systems Plc and QinetiQ Group Plc for safety failings.
The coalition plans to shift increasingly away from a lead role in combat in the next year and toward
intensified training and advising. The U.S. has 89,000 troops in Afghanistan, along with 40,000 from
other nations, and all have begun to pare their numbers. International leaders will discuss the
operation at a NATO summit in Chicago in May.
The families of the soldiers involved in yesterday's explosion have been informed, the ministry said.
With assistance from Gonzalo Vina in London.
RETURN
P3
Afghan Air Force Probed in Drug Running
(Wall Street Journal, 7 Mar 12) … Maria Abi-Habib
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204276304577263032415519426.html
KABUL - The U.S. is investigating allegations that some officials in the Afghan Air Force, which was
established largely with American funds, have been using aircraft to ferry narcotics and illegal
weapons around the country, American officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Two probes of the Afghan Air Force, or AAF, are under way—one led by the U.S. military coalition
and another by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.
"The nature of the allegations is fairly dramatic and indicated that [AAF officials] were transporting
drugs on aircraft and transported weapons not owned by the government of Afghanistan for the use
of private groups," said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, commander of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization Training Mission-Afghanistan, the command that is establishing and financing Afghan
security forces, including the AAF.
Close.Gen. Bolger cautioned that the investigation was still preliminary and the allegations couldn't be
proved at this stage.
As part of the inquiry, the military also is looking into whether the alleged transporting of illegal drugs
and weapons was linked to an April incident in which an AAF colonel gunned down eight U.S. Air
Force officers at Kabul Airport. In a 436-page report released by the U.S. Air Force in January about
the killings, several American officials are quoted as mentioning that the shooter, Col. Ahmed Gul,
was likely involved in the transportation of illicit cargo and wanted to shut down a probe into it.
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The April shooting, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, was the deadliest attack by Afghan
troops on coalition personnel in the 10 years of war. The majority of the victims were involved in an
early inquiry into the misuse of AAF aircraft. Col. Gul, the Afghan officer who killed them, coordinated
AAF's cargo movement.
Lt. Col. John Dorrian, an Air Force spokesman said: "There are a number of factors that were turned
up as a part of the investigation. To call any of them a definitive motive would be speculation at best."
An AAF spokesman, Lt. Col. Mohammed Bahadur, denied the allegations and said he was unaware
of any investigations into the air force. Afghanistan's Minister of Defense, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak,
also said he hadn't been informed of any inquiry.
Western officials say preliminary findings of the investigation suggest certain senior officials in the
AAF and other parts of the Afghan government may have been involved in the alleged drugs and
weapons transporting, or have turned a blind eye to the activity.
The probe of alleged drugs and weapons transport is still in its early stages, and Afghan investigators
aren't involved in it. The allegations have come from "credible" Afghan officers inside and outside the
AAF, the investigators say, and from coalition personnel working with the AAF.
The NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan has provided roughly $20 billion, almost all of it from the
U.S., this year and last to build up Afghan forces, with $1.9 billion going to the AAF. Future funding for
the Afghan security forces is slated to be discussed at a NATO summit in Chicago in May.
The U.S. had hoped to reach by then a deal on long-term American military presence in Afghanistan.
But the talks have stalled because of President Hamid Karzai's insistence that the coalition end night
raids and transfer all its detainees to Afghan custody, U.S. and Afghan sources say.
Afghanistan accounts for some 90% of the world's illicit opium production, according to the United
Nations. Before the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, opium revenue enabled commanders of the
Northern Alliance—the anti-Taliban fighters who would later aid the U.S. in toppling the regime—to
finance their war effort.
Many of these commanders now occupy senior positions in the Afghan security forces or
government. American investigators say they believe some of these former commanders are now
selling drugs again to buy weapons. Their aim: to rearm loyal militias in northern Afghanistan in case
civil war erupts after most foreign forces withdraw from the country in 2014.
The U.S.-led coalition is looking at specific senior Afghan officials in its current investigation into the
misuse of the air force.
The investigating officials say they haven't yet found any proof that Afghan officials met with
international drug networks or any other hard proof of likely criminal activity.
"We found some circumstantial evidence and a few guys willing to give us statements," Gen. Bolger
said.
The DEA said it couldn't confirm or deny its role in the investigation, and declined to comment further.
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U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Bryant, a coalition adviser at AAF, spearheaded an initial, informal,
investigation after months of watching Afghan "helicopters just disappearing without flight plans," said
an American military officer who worked closely with him.
Early last year, Col. Bryant decided to impose U.S. control over the scheduling of Afghan military
flights and suggested cutting off fuel to the AAF until it improved transparency about flight
destinations and cargo, according to interviews with officials and the U.S. Air Force report on the
shooting in April at Kabul International Airport.
Of particular concern was cargo ramp No. 5 at the airport, where unscheduled aircraft were landing
late at night and cargo was being unloaded in a hurry, several Western officials with knowledge of
Col. Bryant's probe said.
The airport is a joint civilian-military facility. Unlike in most of the airport, the U.S.-led coalition has no
oversight role at ramp No. 5. A Western official called that cargo-loading area the "Grand Central
station of illicit activities" in Afghanistan.
That initial probe was cut short on April 27, when Col. Gul burst into a meeting room at the military
side of Kabul airport and shot Col. Bryant, seven other U.S. service members and a U.S. contractor.
Col. Gul killed himself later that day.
A U.S. Air Force investigation into the shooting, released in January, didn't establish a conclusive
motive for the attack, but said Col. Gul, had "self-radicalized," possibly during a stay in Pakistan.
Now, senior American military officers in Kabul are pushing for that probe into the April killings to be
reopened, saying Col. Gul may have been trying to derail the inquiry into a high-powered network of
organized crime.
"These guys didn't die because of some nut job that radicalized overnight. They died because they
took a stand to not let a criminality expand," one of the officials said. "It's not just Afghans profiting
from Afghans but includes international mafias. In a landlocked country, moving goods by air is
everything."
The U.S. Air Force investigation report quotes Col. Gul's friends and family as denying he had
become religious, and as saying he had financial problems and a dispute with the U.S. mentors.
A U.S. sergeant major quoted in the report wrote that imposing U.S. control over scheduling flights,
something Col. Bryant wanted, "could impact [Col. Gul's] income if he took payments for arranging
flight and cargo movements."
Col. Gul likely paid for his colonel's position, and needed the illicit traffic to pay off his superiors, two
Western officials told the Journal.
Family members had a different take on Col. Gul's actions. "He wasn't a radical or a terrorist," a family
member of Col. Gul said. "He was stressed from financial problems," he said. The family member
denied that Col. Gul was involved in any corrupt activity.
Another witness, a U.S. lieutenant colonel, was cited in the report as saying some senior Afghan
officials see the AAF aircraft as a source of income.
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They "want to continue these nefarious and profitable activities with the billions of dollars worth of
aircraft we're buying them and the hundreds of millions we spend every year on maintenance and
fuel," he told investigators.
In April, a coalition spokesman couldn't give a conclusive answer about why Col. Gul opened fire, but
suggested it was because of a disagreement with coalition forces.
About half of all incidents where Afghan servicemen turn on their coalition counterparts are the result
of personal disputes, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan said shortly after the April shooting,
challenging the Taliban claim of having planted Col. Gul.
The current probe into alleged drugs and weapons transport continues to look into ramp No. 5.
Investigators are also looking into movements at other military airfields used by the AAF, especially
those close to northern border areas.
Northern Afghanistan is a major route for the transport of opium and heroin to consumers in Russia
and Western Europe. Opium is mostly grown in southern Afghanistan, and is smuggled to the north to
be moved on to the rest of the world, Western officials say.
The AAF has 86 aircraft, including 16 C-27 cargo planes, 41 Russian-made Mi-17 transport
helicopters and 11 Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships.
Suspicions that some of these aircraft have been used to ferry money, weapons and drugs
throughout the country first surfaced in late 2010, Western officials say. Deliveries by the U.S. and
others are expected to bring the fleet to 145 aircraft by 2016.
Yaroslav Trofimov, Habib Khan Totakhil, Ziaulhaq Sultani and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this
article.
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DEVELOP AND CARE FOR AIRMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES
D1
Air Force to expand testing for prescription drug misuse May 1
(Warner Robins Patriot, 7 Mar 12) … Gene Rector
http://warnerrobinspatriot.com/bookmark/17774650-Air-Force-to-expand-testing-for-prescription-drug-misuse-May-1
The Air Force and other military branches continue to expand testing for drug and chemical misuse.
In a Wednesday announcement, the Air Force Surgeon General public affairs office said testing for
commonly abused prescription drugs would begin May 1. The announcement follows a Jan 31 notice
from the secretary of defense encouraging abusers of prescription medications to seek treatment
before testing began.
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“Abuse of prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in the U.S. and, unfortunately, this
trend is reflected in the military,” Maj. Gen. Thomas Travis, deputy Air Force surgeon general said.
“While pain medications are highly effective in alleviating suffering, they are dangerous and
potentially addictive when used outside medical supervision.”
Officials said the process for collecting urine samples and who would be selected for testing will not
change.
“The changes will occur at the drug testing labs where the standard panel of substances each
specimen is tested for will be expanded,” pointed out Lt. Col. Mark Oordt, chief of alcohol and drug
abuse prevention and treatment. Oordt did not identify the array of substances that would be targeted
in the new testing regimen.
According to the Pentagon release, 52 million Americans ages 12 and older used prescription drugs
non-medically in 2009 with seven million using them routinely. Six of the top ten abused substances
among high school seniors are prescription drugs and 20 percent of high school students have taken
prescription medications without a prescription, the article noted.
There are also increases in prescription drug misuse within the military. The article cited a Defense
Department Behaviors Survey showing misuse of pain medications increased from two percent in
2002 to 17 percent in 2008.
The military’s drug abuse prevention and treatment program does provide some protection for military
members who voluntarily disclose drug use or possession. However, once an airman has been
ordered to provide a urine sample, a disclosure is not considered voluntary.
This action follows a Robins Air Force Base announcement last week that indicated testing had been
enhanced to detect “spice” or synthetic marijuana. Nearly 500 airmen were punished for “spice” use
across the Air Force in 2011 including eight at Robins.
“Air Force regulations make clear that drug abuse of any kind is incompatible with military service,”
the Robins announcement stressed. “Airmen who abuse ‘spice’ or other drugs even one time are
subject to discharge for misconduct.”
RETURN
MODERNIZE OUR AIR, SPACE AND CYBERSPACE INVENTORIES, ORGS AND TRAINING
M1
Ayotte Makes Case for New Tankers at Pease
(Portsmouth Patch, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://portsmouth-nh.patch.com/articles/ayotte-makes-case-for-new-tankers-at-pease
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, touts value of 157th Air Refueling Wing in meeting with head of Air
Force Air Mobility Command.
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U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today met on
Capitol Hill with General Raymond Johns, Commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command
(AMC), to discuss Air Force airlift and air refueling issues.
Today’s meeting comes as the Air Force finalizes basing criteria that will determine where the next
generation KC-46A tankers are stationed. The Air Force is expected to announce the basing criteria
in the coming weeks.
During hearings and in meetings with Air Force leaders over the past year, Senator Ayotte has
highlighted the capabilities and accomplishments of the 157th Air Refueling Wing based at Pease Air
National Guard base. Among the advantages that make Pease an ideal location for the new tanker,
Senator Ayotte has stressed the base’s proximity to important refueling tracks, its mature and wellperforming active duty association, and the 157th’s high aircraft utilization rate – the highest in the
entire Air National Guard last year.
"If the Air Force conducts an objective and transparent basing process for the new tanker, I am
confident that Pease Air National Guard Base and the 157th Air Refueling Wing will receive the new
KC-46A tanker," said Senator Ayotte, who recently joined the 157th on a refueling mission.
During today’s meeting, General Johns also thanked the Senator for her leadership in crafting
legislation to allow the Air Force to reduce its strategic airlift aircraft inventory, an action that will save
approximately $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars in the next few years.
Senator Ayotte drafted an amendment to the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2012 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows the Air Force to reduce the number of strategic airlift
aircraft (C-5As and C-17s) that Congress requires the Air Force to maintain.
Federal law previously set the Air Force’s minimum number of strategic airlift aircraft at 316, but the
Defense Department and the Air Force support the removal of the 316 minimum for the inventory.
Senator Ayotte’s amendment was included in the final version of the NDAA, which was signed into
law on January 1, 2012.
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M2
Rolls-Royce and US Air Force launch fuel savings flight tests on C-130 aircraft fleet
(World Aeronautical Press Agency, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.avionews.com/index.php?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1138414&pagina_chiamante=index.php
Rolls-Royce (RR), the global power systems company, and the United States Air Force will soon
begin flight tests of an engine upgrade for the T56 turboprop engine, which powers the C-130H
transport aircraft. The Series 3.5 upgrade is designed to deliver both fuel savings and reliability
improvements, as well as improved Life Cycle Costs.
RR has delivered upgrade kits to be installed on an Air Force C-130H test aircraft, with flight tests
scheduled to begin by mid-year. The enhancements use proven technologies from other Rolls-Royce
commercial and military engines, including new blade materials and advanced turbine airfoil
aerodynamic designs.
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The engine upgrade program is expected to deliver significant benefits to the Air Force’s C-130H
fleet, enabling the aircraft to continue operation until 2040 while delivering fuel savings of 8 percent;
along with improved reliability and performance. The Series 3.5 enhancement will also improve “hot
and high” performance. Approximately 220 C-130H aircraft are eligible for upgrades.
An Air Force analysis estimated long-term savings of $3.5 Billion from the Series 3.5 enhancements
over the lifetime of the fleet. The engine upgrade can be accomplished as part of a conventional
engine overhaul, and does not require any aircraft or engine control system modifications.
The engine upgrades will help the Air Force to achieve its goal of reducing consumption of aviation
fuel by 10 percent by 2015.
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M3
Blog: Legislature passes resolution supporting F-35s
(AZ Central, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/westsideinsider/156854
A decision on whether the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will come to Luke Air Force Base has yet to
come. But the state leadership made their thoughts loud and clear.
Last week a resolution sponsored by Glendale’s legislative Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Dist. 9, got
unanimous support from the state Legislature.
Part of the resolution states: “The F-35 Lightening II is critical to the future defense of the United
States, and Luke Air Force Base, with its superb flying weather and outstanding facilities and
infrastructure, is the right choice to train Air Force pilots in this next generation aircraft; and Whereas,
the State of Arizona strongly supports the continued operation of Luke Air Force Base as an Air Force
flight training base and pledges to continue to support Luke Air Force Base.”
The Air Force in January released an environmental study that looked at the impact of bringing F-35s
to Luke, the preferred alternative since 2010, to train pilots. The F-35s would replace the older F-16s
at Luke. The base is competing with sites in New Mexico, Idaho and at Tucson International Airport
Air Guard Station.CQ A decision is expected this summer.
State and local leaders have largely been in support of the F-35s, which they say would keep the
economy going in a big way. Luke was once said to have a $2.1 billion annual impact on the state
economy although with the subsequent drawdown of F-16s from the base, that would likely be less.
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RECAPTURE ACQUISITION EXCELLENCE
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Boeing Tanker Making ‘Excellent Progress,’ Air Force Says
(Bloomberg, 7 Mar 12) … Tony Capaccio
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-07/boeing-kc-46-tanker-making-excellent-progress-air-force-says.html
Boeing Co. KC-46 aerial refueling tanker “continues to make excellent progress,” more than a year
after the company won the contract, the Air Force’s mobility chief said today.
“We continue to execute the program to cost and schedule baselines we established, along with
Boeing,” Air Mobility Command commander General Raymond Johns told a House Armed Services
Committee panel today.
Johns made the comment in testimony on airlift requirements to meet the Pentagon’s new global
strategy presented in January. The remarks on the tanker were similar to a Feb. 12 letter to
congressional defense committees from Acting Under Secretary for Acquisition Frank Kendall.
“To date, there have been no major engineering, design, capability or configuration changes to the
KC-46,” Kendall wrote.
The tanker program is scheduled to undergo a “preliminary design review” this month intended to
ensure the system is ready to proceed into detailed design and can meet its war- fighting
requirements within its cost and schedule goals.
The review is the second major one since Boeing won a $4.9 billion development job in February
2011, when it beat the European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. for the initial contract to replace
the Air Force tanker fleet.
Preliminary Design
The preliminary design phase starts in late March and goes a month, program manager Major
General Christopher Bogdan said in an interview. About 270 items will be reviewed in that phase, he
said.
“This review is important because once we give Boeing the OK to go past” the assessment “they will
start the detailed design and start making the drawings they will pass to their suppliers for
manufacturing,” Bogdan said.
Boeing has agreed to start major assembly of the first tanker between April and July 1 of 2013,
according to the Air Force.
The Air Force has requested $1.8 billion in fiscal 2013 for continued research. Procurement spending
starts with $1.65 billion in fiscal 2015, increasing to $3.3 billion in 2017.
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A2
USAF seeks to bypass aircraft engine manufacturers
(Flight International, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-seeks-to-bypass-aircraft-engine-manufacturers-369201/
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The US Air Force is considering buying engine parts for some of its aircraft from third-party
manufacturers, the service's top officials told the US Congress on 6 March.
"We have taken a look at competing some aspects of engine components and have seen potential for
significant [cost] reductions," said air force secretary Michael Donley, during his testimony before the
House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. "We forecast a saving of $40 million," he added.
In recent years, several companies have received regulatory approval under the parts manufacturing
approval (PMA) category to sell reverse-engineered parts for popular commercial engines, such as
the CFM International CFM56.
Air force chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz, testifying at the same hearing, said the service has had
good experiences with buying refurbished commercial parts and parts built by third-party
manufacturers for the CFM56-derived General Electric F108 turbofan installed on the Boeing KC-135
tanker fleet. The USAF's efforts have yielded some "very significant savings," he said.
The service is working to secure the data rights to the Pratt & Whitney F117 turbofan installed on the
Boeing C-17 strategic transport, in order to pursue the same strategy for that fleet, Schwartz said.
The USAF wants to pursue such a strategy for as many systems as possible, particularly for those
that are not exclusive to the military, he added.
Meanwhile, the air force is planning to standardise its C-17 fleet with the Block 18 configuration of the
aircraft. It will also retain 52 Lockheed Martin C-5Ms, which are being upgraded with new engines and
reliability improvements from the C-5A, B and C variants. Modernising the C-5B is cheaper and more
useful for the air force than buying additional C-17s, Schwartz added.
The air force, meanwhile, is cancelling the avionics modernisation programme (AMP) for some of its
Lockheed C-130s, and will instead upgrade the older tactical transports with a more modest package
of enhancements. Each AMP aircraft costs $19 million to modernise, whereas the new package will
cost $5 million each, Schwartz said.
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GLOBAL AIR, SPACE, and CYBERSPACE ENVIRONMENT
G1
US demands 'actions' from Iran in nuclear talks
(Agence France-Presse, 7 Mar 12) … Unattributed
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzVOVqYw0Ju1Ly3wRpMi2QGG1rUw?docId=CNG.7feae09cde7d4c3d75379bfb3430d933.e41
WASHINGTON - The United States Wednesday rebuffed an Iranian warning that new nuclear talks
would fail if they were used to exert pressure, demanding assurances Tehran was not building an
atomic bomb.
"We will demand that Iran live up to its international obligations -- that it provide verifiable assurances
it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air
Force One.
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The warning came after Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani warned that the talks offered by the
United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany would fail if they were used to "pressure"
Tehran.
Carney said the United States was "clear-eyed" about its approach, given that Tehran declined to
discuss its nuclear program in previous rounds of talks.
"We will not relent in our efforts through sanctions and other measures to isolate and pressure Iran,"
he said.
"Actions are what matter here, and we will judge Iran by its actions."
On Tuesday, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the world
powers, said she hoped for real progress in the talks at a time and place yet to be announced.
President Barack Obama meanwhile said he expected it would "quickly" become clear if Iran was
serious about easing concerns about its nuclear intentions in the talks.
In a February 14 letter to Ashton, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Tehran was ready to
resume the deadlocked negotiations at the "earliest" opportunity as long as the world powers
respected its right to peaceful atomic energy.
At the last talks between the two sides held in Istanbul in January 2011, Iran refused to address
questions on its nuclear program, laying down what diplomatic sources said were "pre-conditions"
such as a lifting of sanctions.
The prospects of new talks come at a time of heightened tension between Iran and its regional archrival Israel, and as Tehran struggles under a punishing new range of US and European Union
sanctions.
Western powers and Israel suspect Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb under the guise of a
civilian atomic program, a charge consistently denied by Tehran, which says its nuclear drive is aimed
for peaceful purposes.
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ITEMS OF INTEREST
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US Intercepts Only 1 of 3 Drug Smugglers It Tracks, Says General
(AOL Defense, 7 Mar 12) … Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
http://defense.aol.com/2012/03/07/us-can-only-intercept-33-of-drug-smugglers-it-tracks-says-gene/
The U.S. military command covering South America intercepts only about a third of the drug
shipments and other illegal traffic that it knows about, because it and allied nations simply lack the
assets to intercept most of the suspect boats and aircraft that their intelligence identifies, locates, and
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tracks. That shortfall in interception results in part from a shrinking U.S. Navy and the diversion of Air
Force reconnaissance assets to the war zone in Afghanistan. "We intercept about 33 percent of what
we know is out there, and that's just a limitation on the number of assets," said Air Force Gen.
Douglas Fraser, chief of the U.S. Southern Command, at a breakfast with reporters this morning.
And, Fraser admitted, that percentage is "going down... More is getting through."
The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and, after 2014, Afghanistan may free up some aircraft and
boats for drug interdiction, Fraser said. But the limitations on what some partner nations can do are
more intractable – and any improvement in American capabilities is at the mercy of increasingly tight
budgets and a possible sequester.
At sea, Fraser explained, the U.S. Navy is retiring the smaller ships that have traditionally been the
mainstay of drug interdiction patrols, the aging and increasingly expensive to operate Perry-class
frigates, while their much-delayed replacement, the Littoral Combat Ships, is just beginning to enter
service. "We 'll see a gap in the numbers of those types of ships," Fraser said. "So we're working with
the Navy to see what other types of vessels and capability that's coming back from Iraq might be
available," particularly small craft that have been used for river patrol and offshore patrol in the Gulf.
Such boats could boost the U.S. fleet's own interception capability but also, and perhaps more
importantly, some could be transferred to friendly countries that are currently short on assets to
intercept drug boats moving through their own territorial waters. (Fraser focused on Navy vessels and
did not specifically address the Coast Guard, which does contribute some ships to Southern
Command operations).
Similarly, in the air, Fraser is eyeing the Air Force's MC-12 "Liberty" reconnaissance planes (pictured
above). "I do see opportunities for MC-12 [in South America]," he said. "I think it's a great capacity" -so attractive, in fact, that some nations in the region are converted planes captured from drug
traffickers into similar surveillance platforms. Currently, "we're not getting any of that," he said,
because all the MC-12s are busy in the war zone, but as U.S. forces draw down, he said, "we will put
a demand for those systems."
Southern Command might even get more access to the Air Force's celebrated "Global Hawk" highaltitude drones. Currently, "we have access to occasional Global Hawk missions," Fraser said, but
most of them are, again, busy over Afghanistan.
That said, Fraser went on, "there's a lot bigger architecture that needs to be addressed than just
having a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle]." Much of the command's information about smugglers
comes from law enforcement sources, not traditional military reconnaissance. Once an illegal
shipment is being tracked, many of the shortfalls in interception result from smugglers operating in
hard-to-reach areas, where the U.S. cannot pursue without violating foreign airspace but the local
authorities lack the resources to go after them.
For example, Fraser said, a small plane can land at a remote dirt airstrip, offload a cargo of drugs – or
guns, or other contraband – and be off again in 15 minutes. Most Central and South American air
forces don't have enough aircraft constantly on alert to catch such a plane in the air, nor do their law
enforcement agencies have the manpower to be grab them on the ground.
In the near term, "[regional] militaries have been asked by their governments to support law
enforcement," Fraser said. "I don't think a long term trend of the military being involved in law
enforcement is a good thing. [But] countries have seen the necessity to do that as their only available
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solution." The U.S. is working with local militaries on not only drug-interdiction skills but also rule of
law, respect for civilian authorities, and human rights, but ultimately, Fraser said, "the solution is not a
military solution. [Instead, we need to] help build law enforcement capacity, help build judicial
capacity."
Helping friendly nations to secure their own territory and airspace is crucial, Fraser said, holding up
the U.S. cooperation with Colombia as one model; and the Administration's new strategic guidance
puts an emphasis on such "building partner capacity" missions as America's direct involvement in
Afghanistan draws down.
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I2
Talk of U.S. military in Syria divides Congress
(AP, 7 Mar 12) … Donna Cassata
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/03/ap-panetta-no-simple-answers-for-syria-action-030712/
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the nation’s top military leader delivered a
sober assessment Wednesday of Syria’s sophisticated air defenses and its extensive stockpile of
chemical weapons in a strategic reality check to the demand for U.S. military action to end President
Bashar Assad’s deadly crackdown on his people.
President Barack Obama’s 2008 rival — Republican Sen. John McCain — has called for the
president to launch airstrikes against Assad to force him from power and end the bloodshed. The
United Nations estimates that more than 7,500 Syrians have been killed, with hundreds more fleeing
to neighboring nations to avoid the slaughter.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed
Services Committee that Obama has asked the Pentagon for a preliminary review of military options,
such as enforcement of a no-fly zone and humanitarian airlifts. He insisted that the military would be
ready if the commander in chief made the request.
“What are the potential missions, what is the enemy order of battle, what are the enemy’s capabilities
or potential enemies? What are the troops we have available, and how much time. So, mission,
enemy, terrain, troops and time. That’s a commander’s estimate,” Dempsey said of the initial step.
Panetta said they waiting on Obama before doing more detailed contingency planning.
In Congress, only McCain’s closest Senate colleagues have echoed his plea. War-weary Republicans
and Democrats have expressed serious reservations about U.S. military involvement in Syria after
more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the divisive political fight last summer over U.S.
intervention in Libya, and the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said this week that the situation in Syria is too muddled and
military action would be premature, an opinion shared by many House Republicans who challenged
Obama last year for dispatching the military to protect Libyans battling to overthrow Moammar
Gadhafi. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also said this week that he wasn’t prepared
to support military action against Syria.
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Panetta summed up the situation in stark terms.
“The fundamental issue that is before us is whether or not the United States will go in and act
unilaterally in that part of the world, and engage in another war in the Muslim world unilaterally. Or
whether or not we will work with others in determining what action we take,” Panetta said.
Still, McCain pressed for military involvement, pointing to Democratic President Bill Clinton’s
willingness to act during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. He engaged in one sharp exchange with
Panetta.
“As secretary of defense, before I recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in
harm’s way, I’ve got to make very sure that we know what the mission is,” Panetta said. “I’ve got to
make very sure that we know whether we can achieve that mission? At what price? And whether or
not it will make matters better, or worse?”
“Well, let me tell you what’s wrong with your statement,” McCain said. “You don’t mention American
leadership. Americans should lead in this. America should be standing up. America should be
building coalitions.”
Late last month, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Tunisia to rally the Friends of
Syria, 60 U.S, Arab and European nations determined to force Assad and his allies to agree to a
democratic transition.
Obama has resisted calls to step into the turmoil in Syria to stop Assad’s crackdown on protesters.
He told a news conference Tuesday that the international community has not been able to muster a
campaign against Syria like the one in Libya that ousted Gadhafi. Russia, which is involved in arms
sales with Syria, and China have resisted U.N. efforts to criticize Syria.
Obama’s strategy has been to rely on sanctions and international diplomatic isolation to pressure
Assad into handing over power.
Assad’s regime did allow U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos into Baba Amr on Wednesday; she
found that most people already had fled after a military siege.
In a cautionary note, Panetta and Dempsey described a well-armed Syria that bears little
resemblance to what the U.S. military and its allies faced in Libya. Syria’s air defenses are five times
more sophisticated than Libya’s, and its chemical and biological weapons stockpile is 100 times
larger than Libya’s. Suppressing the air defenses would require a sustained air campaign over an
extended period of time with a significant number of aircraft. The United States would have to lead
the effort, Dempsey said.
One complication is the location of the air defenses. Panetta said they are in populous neighborhoods
and air attacks could mean scores of unintended deaths.
“We also need to be alert to extremists,” Dempsey said, and other hostile actors, including Iran, which
he said “has been exploiting the situation and expanding its support to the regime. And we need to be
especially alert to the fate of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons. They need to stay exactly
where they are.”
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Dempsey said the opposition numbers 100 groups. Syria also is far more diverse demographically,
ethnically and religiously.
McCain — along with Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. — also raised the
possibility of arming the rebels. But Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine expressed reservations,
citing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recent comment that “if we arm, who are we
arming?”
Some reports have suggested that al-Qaida is backing the Syrian opposition.
“If the United States or another country or even an international coalition chose to arm opposition
groups in Syria, what’s your assessment of the risk that we might be taking that we could end up
arming terrorist groups or other enemies that are hostile to the United States or to Israel or to other
allies in the region?” Collins asked.
At the State Department, Clinton said the United States is doing what it can to support the opposition,
which still isn’t unified.
“So we do think it is appropriate to help the opposition, but where we’re focused on is how we help
them be more unified, communicate more clearly, have a message to all their Syrian counterparts
who are not yet convinced that it is in their interests for Assad to go,” she said.
In the House, the Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved tougher sanctions on Syria that
target its energy sector senior regime officials responsible for human rights abuses. The measure
also strengthens current penalties.
Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
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END OF FULL TEXT
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