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Year of the Air Force Family
September 16th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Michael Hoffman
Taking care of airmen under the strain of consistent deployments is a priority for Schwartz as he and Donley declared July 2009 to July 2010 the Year of the Air Force Family.
Schwartz said he’s concerned the Air Force is losing its sense of community and unique culture. He cited the closing of single wing bases “where everyone knew your name” in favor of “mega-bases” and the downsizing of dormitories. He also warned of the effects of closing clubs and dining facilities, which “have served as the evening dinner table for so many single airmen.”
“If we lose the sense of community that makes Air Force service special and unique, we will lose many of the airmen and families that make us the world’s greatest Air Force,” he said.
The service will spend the next ten months addressing these weaknesses in a series of programs and assessments that will encompass airmen – both single and married – lives as well as their families.
Exact details on what these programs will entail or when these assessments will occur are still outstanding, but Schwartz’s spokeswoman Lt. Col. Adriane Craig said more information is forthcoming.
“We will devote this year to identifying what we are doing right, and what we need to do better, to support the entire Air Force family, and to rekindle the sense of community that has been our tradition for so many generations,” Schwartz said.
‘Hold the line … hold the line’
September 16th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Michael Hoffman
Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz wants to move on.
He is tired of answering questions about the F-22, or apologizing for the nuclear mistakes that led to the firing of his predecessor. Schwartz told the audience during his keynote speech at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference on Sept. 15 he plans to use his second year in office to work toward the future.
“We were asked to put out some wildfires that had gotten out of control, and although we aren’t off the fire line just yet, I’m here to report that the smoke and flames no longer obstruct our view of the future.”
Schwartz plans to remain focused on rebuilding the service’s nuclear mission, most notably with the recent stand up of Global Strike Command, but he urged the audience of airmen and defense industry officials to take measure of their recent accomplishments and support a transitioning service.
The service strengthened its relationship over the past year with the Pentagon and Congress after the two ripped Air Force leadership for allowing its nuclear mission to erode, and focus on the F-22 to over take that of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Schwartz defended the decisions he and Secretary Michael Donley made over the past year – such as the recommendation to end F-22 production – in front of some of the same leaders who outspokenly criticized it. Schwartz said these decisions have “better integrated” the Air Force with its “joint teammates” in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“We did this by making tough, sometimes painful decisions internally – choices that set the course for our future; choices that restored a measure of institutional freedom of action that will allow us to embark on an even more assertive journey in the coming years,” he said.
That journey is one that Schwartz signaled would include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and next generation long range strike aircraft. The Air Force must remain the world leader in “detecting, identifying, and targeting” an adversary, he said.
The Air Force must also maintain its airlift capability and ensure the U.S. can “rapidly project and sustain joint forces anywhere in the world,” he said.
These might not be the goals some Air Force leaders had envisioned – ones that included many more F-22s – but they are in line with the changing landscape of America’s military.
Schwartz said that one day the Air Force would once again lead from the front, but for now, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan place the onus on the Army and the Marine Corps.
“In the future, we likely will find ourselves once again in an operation that emphasizes Air Force contributions, but in the meantime, we will devote ourselves fully to providing the Joint force commanders whatever capabilities they need to prevail, because in the end, there is no Air Force victory in war, or Air Force loss in war. Only the United States of America stumble or succeeds,” he said.
Space surveillance satellite closes in on launch date
September 15th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Ben Iannotta
By late October a 1,000 kilogram U.S. satellite could be ready to photograph and track space objects from the vantage point of low Earth orbit in one of the first tangible steps in the Air Force’s plan to improve its ability to predict satellite collisions and spot threatening maneuvers by other satellites.
Boeing is awaiting orders from the Air Force to transport the Space-based Surveillance System (SBSS) satellite to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for launch on a Minotaur rocket in late October, said Marc Johansen, a former Air Force colonel and Boeing’s vice president for space, intelligence, and missile defense programs.
At the moment, the $400-million SBSS spacecraft is a one-of-a-kind spacecraft, but Boeing hopes the Air Force will choose to buy more of the satellites, Johansen said. The Air Force is weighing options to improve its “space situational awareness,” including the possibility of launching a constellation of three to four surveillance spacecraft.
The Air Force wants to avoid collisions like one between a Russian satellite and an Iridium communications satellite in February that scattered debris in orbit.
In Johansen’s view, the Russian incident demonstrated why the U.S. needs to watch other satellites from space, where clouds and haze do not block the view. The Air Force currently relies on ground telescopes and radars for space surveillance.
Russia had moved its satellite, and Air Force Space Command did not immediately spot the change, Johansen said.
“Eventually space command would have seen it,” he said.
20 Questions
September 15th, 2009 | AFA Air & Space Conference 2009 | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy takes questions from the audience at the Command Master Sergeants forum.
Tags: AFA, James Roy, Maddaloni, Master Sergeant
Air Chief: Where F-22 Stumbled, JSF Will Soar
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
With the F-35 slated to soon be the lone fifth-generation American fighter in production, Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, expects the program will avoid major problems.
“Because of things learned from F-22” Schwartz told reporters he anticipates the F-35 will not experience the kinds of technical ailments that typically plague – and delay – fighter development programs. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for both fighters.
“Do I expect there will be software shutdowns that jeopardize the entire [F-35 program]? No,” Schwartz said.
Meantime, the air chief said he opposes a Senate Appropriations Committee plan to use Air Force dollars to develop an exportable version of the F-22. The Pentagon this year shepherded through Congress a plan to cap the American F-22 fleet at 187 planes.
Schwartz said he believes developing an exportable version would not be “the best use of our acquisition talent,” which he would rather tap to develop and field new a new aerial tanker and long-range bombing aircraft.
He noted the appropriations panel’s provision is merely a “recommendation, and not a mandate.”
Tags: F-22, F-35, JSF, lockheed, schwartz, Senate Appropriations Committee
Attention to Detail
September 15th, 2009 | AFA Air & Space Conference 2009 | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
A pilot in Lockheed Martin’s F-22 model – as far as I can tell, it’s the only company that put a pilot in it’s display model. Let’s call Robert Langdon in on this one, folks.
Tags: AFA, F-22, Lockheed Martin, Maddaloni, model
Schwartz: C-130 AMP likely victim of affordability
September 15th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Bruce Rolfsen
The C-130 avionics modernization program may not make it beyond the testing phase.
Tuesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said Tuesday that the Air Staff has made a recommendation to the Defense Department to end the C-130 AMP program.
Schwartz was speaking with reporters at the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference near Washington, D.C.
Instead of overhauling the cockpits of hundreds of C-130H Hercules, the service will look at “stand alone” upgrades such as the navigation equipment needed to make the plane compliant with international air traffic control standards.
Schwartz, whose flying career focused on conventional and special operations C-130s, said the decision is driven by affordability.
Boeing Co. developed AMP and installed the cockpit overhaul in three planes in order for the service to evaluate the changes.
The Air Force spent more than $1.5 billion over the last 10 years developing the AMP system as a way to extend the life of its aging C-130 fleet.
Schwartz Promises “Fool Proof” Tanker Solicitation
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz today vowed the draft solicitation the Pentagon this month will release seeking industry bids for a multibillion-dollar tanker aircraft contract will be “fool proof.”
Air Force and industry officials during the first two days of the conference have thrown around various time tables for when the Defense Department will release a draft version of a request for proposals. Those vary from next week to 14 days to by the end of this month.
Boeing and a team of EADS and Northrop Grumman are expected to again compete for the contract.
As the crescendo for the service’s latest try at replacing its aging KC-135 tankers ramps up, Schwartz was asked about rumors in defense circles that if either of the competitors feel shortchanged by the coming solicitations, they will protest before formal bids are even submitted.
Asked about those rumors, Schwartz said with a grin: “Do you think we’d put an RfP on the street that isn’t fool proof?”
Tags: boeing, EADS, kc-x, Northrop Grumman, scwartz, tanker
Air Force Looks to Cancel C-130 AMP Program
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters today the Air Force has proposed killing the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), aiming to replace it with a less-expensive alternative.
Calling the decision “largely an affordability issue,” Schwartz said service brass have pitched the idea to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Under that pitch, the AMP effort would be replaced with one that would fit air lifters with “stand-alone integrations” as opposed to the planned across-the-board avionics upgrades.
Boeing had been the contractor the AMP program, but was expected to compete against Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems for a new contract.
Industry officials at the conference had little to say, noting the companies with a stake in the AMP program were only informed of the service’s proposed approach shortly before Schwartz talked with reporters.
“The bottom line is we couldn’t afford it,” Schwartz said.
He said OSD still must approve killing the AMP effort before the new plan is enacted: “No decision in this town is final.”
The price of an installed C-130 Amp kit is around $9 million. Boeing was aiming to get those costs down to about $7 million, the air service’s desires price target, according to media reports.
Belt tightening at Air Force dining hall
September 15th, 2009 | AFA Air & Space Conference 2009 Uncategorized | Posted by Bruce Rolfsen
Belt tightening is a growing concern for Air Force dining halls.
While many airmen eat for free at dining facilities, each of those meals costs the Air Force about $20, Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, who oversees Air Force personnel and services issues, told airmen gathered Tuesday for the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference near Washington, D.C.
The cost of meals is among the issues prompting a look at how to improve the food operations, Newton said. For example, how can the kitchens provide meals to airmen working night shifts at a cost that the Air Force can afford.
“It is still a work in progress,” Newton said of the dining review.
Tags: air force