Air Mobility Command is pursuing a contract for privately operated tankers to meet the unrelenting need for booms in the air as the service proposes cutting 29 KC-135s and KC-10s. The command is wrapping up a feasibility study on the plan this month with the goal of a contract solicitation in June. The initial requirement would be about 5,000 hours annually, totaling about 1,100 sorties, but eventually the Air Force would like to contract nearly 30,000 hours, the vast majority of which would support training and exercises.
The new coronavirus is starting to have operational impacts in the Indo-Pacific, as the Navy sidelines a carrier that was previously underway. There were 280 current U.S. military cases of COVID-19 as of March 26—73 more than the previous day—and 600 cases total, including civilians, dependents, and contractors. Within the Air Force, 92 Active-Duty Airmen have tested positive, and the service has 159 cases total, including dependents, civilians, and contractors. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, in a video to Airmen released March 26, said the outbreak is “a challenge we have not faced before,” and though the coming weeks “will test us,” the services will lead through the crisis. The Air Force is responding in several ways, including flying aid to Italy and evacuating U.S. citizens from Honduras, and the Air National Guard is activating across the country.
Though the Lockheed Martin/KAI T-50A lost the T-X competition, the Air Force will lease a handful of the jets to train pilots ahead of their instruction in the new Boeing T-7A, according to a Korean newspaper. The pricing for the jets is being negotiated, according to The Korea Herald. The jets are to provide 3,000 sorties, or 4,500 flight hours, over five years.
The Air Force should prioritize buying new hardware over new concepts like the Advanced Battle Management Systems, because it has an obligation to meet National Defense Strategy requirements and the service already is too old and small to do so, a new Heritage Foundation white paper argues. “The Air Force should prioritize procurement well ahead of research, development, test, and evaluation,” according to the Heritage Foundation white paper. Senior USAF leaders have been arguing the exact opposite, saying the service must accept risk now to buy future capability.
The Space Force and United Launch Alliance successfully launched the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., around 4:15 p.m. March 26. AEHF-6, the final piece of the protected satellite comms constellation, will reach its destination after about six hours. Its launch is the Space Force’s first National Security Space Launch event since the new service was created in December.
