Lord Touts Streamlining, Previews Industry Study, Software Blacklist, F-35 Trades

Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’ acquisition, technology and logistics chief, told reporters Friday that she is making progress in streamlining the offices under her, adjusting some 150 or more positions with an eye toward making it easier to do business with the Pentagon and reducing bureaucracy. She also revealed a “do not buy” list of software companies with ties to China or Russia that the Pentagon won’t do business with because of security concerns. Lord said an interagency industrial base study will be released by the White House within a month that will identify the “fragility” of certain sectors and what the Pentagon might be able to do about it. Lord also said she and the services are now working through whether to modify older F-35s to the current configuration, and she said the services have certainty about what upgrades will be included in the Block IV version of the jet. Read the full story by John A. Tirpak.

USAF Carries US, UN Remains Out of North Korea

An Air Force C-17 landed in North Korea on Friday, picking up the remains of US and allied service members killed in the Korean War for repatriation through South Korea. The C-17, from the 15th Wing at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, departed Wonsan, North Korea, late Thursday US Eastern Time, accompanied by service members from United Nations Command Korea and officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, before a stop at Osan AB, South Korea. Airmen lined the street from the Osan flight line, saluting the 55 United Nations-flag adorned boxes of remains. There will be a formal repatriation ceremony on Wednesday, The White House said in a statement. “The United States owes a profound debt of gratitude to those American service members who gave their lives in service to their country and we are working diligently to bring them home,” The White House said. “It is a solemn obligation of the United States Government to ensure that the remains are handled with dignity and properly accounted for so their families receive them in an honorable manner.” The move to transfer the remains follows President Trump’s June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. —Brian Everstine

Air Force Looking at Possible Reaper Successors

The Air Force is looking at successors to the MQ-9 Reaper that could be more survivable, while also keeping the current fleet for peer-level combat, the head of Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance said Thursday. The Air Force is looking at how to use unmanned aerial vehicles in more contested environments and “depending on where we place them and how we mission plan and how we use our other capabilities, there are absolute viable ways that they can be utilized,” Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said at an Air Force Association event in Washington, D.C. However, “That is not to say we are not looking at some advanced concepts,” she said, adding she would reveal more at a planned Mitchell Institute roundtable Aug. 2. —Steve Hirsch

AMC Shifting KC-135 Simulators as it Brings On KC-46s

Air Mobility Command announced Thursday it is moving two more KC-135 flight simulators as it brings on the KC-46 and tries to optimize its KC-135 training equipment. The two Operations Flight Trainers will head to Fairchild AFB, Wash., and MacDill AFB, Fla. Three of the trainers will go to Pittsburgh ANGB, Penn.; Rickenbacker ANGB, Ohio; and Altus AFB, Okla., the command has already announced. The Air Force has 19 of the full-motion trainers at 12 bases, and the relocation shows the bases will operate the KC-135 for the long-term and are based to “maximize simulator access across the mobility enterprise,” AMC said in a release. The Air Force will retain 300 of its 396 KC-135s as it brings on KC-46s.

CORRECTION

An entry in the July 27 Daily Report incorrectly stated Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski is the second woman to reach the rank of general in the Air Force. She is the third woman of four-star rank in the Air Force; the second was Gen. Lori Robinson, former head of US Northern Command and Pacific Air Forces.