-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! 000257. C-17s deliver a brigade in 30 minutes or less by Danita L. Hunter Air Mobility Command Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- Air Mobility Command C-17s will soon be able to airdrop a brigade of troops and equipment within 30 minutes, meeting the Army's goal for how long the airdrop should take. The requirement, called Strategic Brigade Airdrop, is currently met by a mix of AMC's C-141 and C-17 fleets, but will be accomplished solely by the C-17 fleet when the C-141 is retired. The following three initiatives will allow this to happen: reduce the spacing between aircraft during personnel airdrops, install a dual-row airdrop capability, and install new equipment that will allow the aircraft to fly in tighter formations during inclement weather. An Army brigade, which contains about 3,250 troops and 3,450 tons of equipment, is airdropped and airlanded in two phases. During the first phase of the SBA, the aircraft must be able to drop roughly 2,500 troops and 1,350 tons of equipment within a limited amount of time. During the second phase of the operation, the remaining 750 troops and 2,100 tons of equipment are delivered to a landing zone. Had none of the initiatives currently underway taken place, it would take a C-17 SBA formation about 25 minutes longer than the Army's requirement for the airdrop portion. "As soon as we realized that we wouldn't be able to meet the Army's requirement, AMC started working to change that," said Maj. David Kasberg, chief, C-17 tactics. To get to the time requirement, AMC decided on its three-pronged approach to fix the problem. The first step was to reduce aircraft spacing. Only 12,000 feet was required between lead aircraft airdropping personnel with the C-141. However, vortices created by the C-17 means a larger spacing is needed to ensure jumper safety. "The C-17 has the same length and wingspan as the C-141, but a much wider cargo compartment, and is heavier overall," said Kasberg. "The heavier airplane, especially with the same length wings, causes a lot more wake turbulence. It's a physics problem we're trying to overcome." Using computer models, the command began investigating 15,000 feet spacing between element leads and gradually increased the spacing to the current 40,000 feet to decrease the number of interactions between the aircraft's vortices and the jumpers. "I got involved in building the model trying to come up with a better way of predicting where the vortex would be and how it would interact with the jumpers," said Lt. Col. Hans Petry, mobility analyst. Petry was a student at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, when he worked on the model. Using a Wright Lab engineer's static model, Petry and a fellow student made the model move, added wind effects and random variation of the jumpers' trajectories, and snaked the vortices behind the aircraft instead of in a straight line. This created a much more realistic picture of what was actually happening around the aircraft in flight. "We went over a bunch of iterations and cases in trying to figure out anything that could possibly happen, and came up with some predicted percentages of encounters and ranges of spacing," Petry explained. "At 28,000 feet, we predicted that we would have an acceptable range -- minor encounters that would keep anybody from getting hurt -- and that's where they started testing." The testing was completed in December at Pope AFB, N.C. Despite the predictions, at 28,000 feet there were still several major encounters between the mannequins and the vortices, so the spacing was increased to 32,000 feet. Before progressing to using real paratroopers, AMC dropped 712 mannequins with element lead aircraft spaced 32,000 feet apart to ensure the spacing was safe, said Lt. Col. Pete Livingston, AMC C-17 operational test manager. Then 60 test jumpers, followed by 302 paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C were airdropped to complete the test of the reduced spacing. All test events were completed successfully and safely. "We feel that the risk that hasn't increased by moving the aircraft from 40,000 feet apart to 32,000 feet apart and it meets the Army's pass time requirements," Kasberg said. "For safe training and during contingencies, 32,000 feet is right for our standard spacing." More time is shaved off the airdrop time by developing a dual-row airdrop capability in the C-17. The dual logistics rails allow two rows of equipment to be airdropped from the C-17. This more than doubles the capacity of each C-17 and cuts in half the number of C-17s required to airdrop the heavy equipment portion of the SBA. "Right now, the airplanes rolling off the assembly line have dual-row capability and we will have enough dual-row airplanes by July to meet the Army's SBA requirement," Kasberg said. Current station-keeping equipment, or SKE, is in use throughout the Air Force on most mobility aircraft. Using radio wave frequencies, it allows aircraft to fly in formation during inclement weather. A new version of this equipment called SKE Follow-On is currently in development. It will continue to allow C-17s to fly in poor weather conditions while reducing the amount of space needed between aircraft. "The SKE allows us to fly in formation in the clouds (when you can't see the airplane in front of you)," Kasberg said. The current SKE causes interference if formations use the same radio wave frequency in close proximity to each other. This interference is not a factor with the new SKE. It is expected to be installed in the aircraft by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. (Courtesy of AMC News Service) 000256. Global positioning system munitions mark evolution of weaponry by Steven R. Ford Ogden Air Logistics Center Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFPN) -- In the wake of lessons learned from the conflict in Kosovo, the Air Force is fitting its Paveway III munitions with global positioning system satellite guidance systems. The modifications, in addition to increasing the accuracy of the weapons, could provide potential new workload here. "The biggest advantage of GPS weapons is that they're launch-and-leave-type weapons," said Col. Robert George, commander of the Air-to-Surface Munitions Directorate, which manages the Paveway II and III systems. George said that current weapons require pilots or aircrews to stay in the area and designate the target with a laser. "Our goal, if we have to go to war, is to destroy the enemy target without loss of American life," he said. With GPS-equipped weapons, "you go to a point, drop your weapons and get out of Dodge as quickly as possible. You don't have to linger in the area." Laser-guided munitions came to prominence during the Gulf War when television screens across America showed the accuracy of the weapons. Iraqi bunkers, buildings and armored columns were routinely destroyed with unprecedented accuracy, helping make the Gulf War one of the most decisive military victories in global history. In the desert, only a sandstorm or, in some cases, the smoke created by burning targets nearby, would prevent the delivery of laser-guided munitions. Kosovo, on the other hand, reinforced the limitation that laser-guided weapons systems are only effective if the target is not obscured. There, the poor weather and low visibility made laser-guided munitions undeliverable or inaccurate and, in a handful of cases, dangerously so. Northrop Grumman's Joint Direct Attack Munition, a GPS-guided munition, was instrumental in the campaign during Kosovo's consistently poor weather conditions. "GPS guidance will still direct the munitions to target regardless of the weather," George said. "If you lose your laser spot while the weapon is guiding, chances are you'll miss your target." A small number of GBU-24, GBU-27 and GBU-28 laser-guided bombs currently in the Air Force inventory will be upgraded, but the majority of the inventory of such weapons will be purchased from the manufacturer with GPS already installed. "There were reports that we're doing GPS (modifications) on all our laser-guided bombs," George said. "We're doing some, but we don't plan to retrofit the entire inventory." While the conversion will end the laser-guided munitions era and relegate the laser guidance system to secondary status, according to George, contrary to published reports, the GPS conversion doesn't mean that the Air Force's inventory of laser-guided weaponry will be mothballed or no longer used in future warfare. It merely gives Air Force pilots options and flexibility. "The GPS will guide the weapon to within a few meters. Add laser guidance to that, and, in theory, you should be able to guide it through an open window," George said. But if GPS is the present state-of-the-art, what is on the horizon? George sees a number of possibilities that could make GPS munitions look as low-tech as inertial guidance. Of the more fanciful ideas, George sees a proliferation of so-called "Star Wars" directed-energy weapons. Noting such systems as the airborne laser currently in testing, George thinks directed-energy weapons might someday be reduced to a size that would allow delivery by a fighter aircraft. With the military's focus increasingly toward "smart munitions" that will help safeguard American lives, he envisions an expansion of the unmanned aerial vehicle program, such as the Global Hawk already in use. Unmanned fighter aircraft would have the obvious advantage of being less expensive, more maneuverable without a human pilot, and unlikely to risk the life of the "pilot" flying it from many miles away. Ideas have also been proposed to create autonomous weapons that are launch-and-leave; a small warhead that will loiter around a target area, selecting potential targets, and then attacking them. In the more immediate future, George sees a redesign in conventional munitions to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. "What we're pushing for is the development of smaller, more accurate munitions," George explained, "going from a 500-pound to perhaps 100-pound bomb with laser or GPS guidance. We want to be able to hit and destroy a target with little collateral damage. We want to be able to knock out the enemy but not the enemy civilian population." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service) 000260. Acquisition official discusses F-22 role in air power future by Capt. Tim White Arnold Engineering Development Center Public Affairs ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. (AFPN) -- The Air Force's top acquisition officer for all fighter and bomber programs visited here recently to discuss the service's No. 1 acquisition priority and the importance of Arnold Engineering Development Center to that priority. Maj. Gen. Claude M. Bolton Jr., program executive officer for fighter and bomber programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, explained the need for the Air Force's next fighter, the F-22 Raptor, and the work being done to bring the next generation of air dominance to the battlefield. "Maintaining our air superiority and air dominance is No. 1 for us because it is the enabler for everything else we do," said Bolton. "It allows us to prosecute our war plans and allows our Army and Navy colleagues to do what they need to do without worrying about who is flying over them." "Today we have four aircraft around the world that are on par with our F-15," Bolton said. "There are two Russian aircraft, the Eurofighter that is coming on line and there is the French Mirage 2000. When you combine that (one of those planes) with the very good air-to-air missiles that the Russians have, you are faced with one heck of an airplane." Those aircraft threats, coupled with increasingly more sophisticated and lethal surface-to-air missiles, have dramatically increased the importance of the F-22's capabilities. The new fighter will bring together in a single package four capabilities no other fighter system in the world possesses: the ability to fly supersonically without the use of afterburners, or what is called supercruise; stealth design; greater maneuverability at supersonic speeds; and an integrated avionics package designed to present better and clearer information to the pilot. In addition to stretching the performance envelope to new levels, the Raptor is an aircraft designed for easier maintenance and inexpensive repair. The general recently witnessed this first-hand during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "We had a foreign-object damage incident where a stone hit one of the engine blades," Bolton said. "We took the engine out, blended the blade without replacing it and put it back on the aircraft in only five hours. Today, if I have a problem like that on the F-15, it's at least three days and I likely have to change the engine." Although the F-22 is now flying at Edwards as part of its flight test program, it has been a long road to get there. A typical acquisition program for a fighter aircraft will last 20 years before the system is fielded and ready for combat if needed. Thousands of hours of testing take place at the Department of Defense's aerospace ground test facility here. Bolton recognized the work AEDC people have done for more than 10 years in F-22 testing, including engine testing and wind tunnel tests to measure aerodynamics and clean separation of munitions and fuel tanks from the aircraft. The center has also helped predict high-cycle fatigue characteristics. "What the people at Arnold (AFB, Tenn.), have done is step up to more testing when the customer has wanted it better, faster and cheaper," said Bolton. "AEDC has met that challenge with glowing reports." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service) 000261. F-15 system program office wins Air Force award by Dan Murray F-15 System Program Office WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- The F-15 Project Team was recently awarded the "Program Executive Office Team of the Year Award" for 1999. The team was recognized by Maj. Gen. Claude M. Bolton Jr., Air Force program executive officer for fighters and bombers, for its efforts in managing and executing a highly aggressive $350 million F-15 Active Electronically Scanned Array, or AESA, radar upgrade program. "The team clearly demonstrated incredible ingenuity and management expertise in developing a 'first-ever' radar system that will exceed the warfighter's operational requirements," said Lt. Col. Gregory Postulka, development system manager for the F-15 System Program Office. The team members include: Don Thompson, Capt. Ron Jackson, Greg Barker, Tom Kielbaso, Earl Kessinger, Jim Cashatt, Leslie Smith and Sherlyn Robinson. The F-15 AESA program includes the modification of 18 Pacific Air Forces F-15C jets using APG-63(v)1 radar components currently in production. The new AESA program features a new advanced identification friend or foe system, an upgrade to the environmental control system, and uses selective APG-63(v)1 backed components currently in production. These aircraft will be stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, by December. The Boeing Co. is the prime contractor for the APG-63(v)2. The major subcontractors are Raytheon for the AESA radar development; Allied Signal for the enhanced environmental control system; and GEC Marconi Hazeltine for the advanced identification friend or foe system. "The AESA radar technology is the cornerstone for future Air Force fighters including the F-22 Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter," Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters stated in a Dec. 7 news release. "Lessons learned from the deployment and employment of the radar will help the Air Force better prepare for our next generation fighter aircraft while helping keep the F-15C the world's best air superiority fighter today. These will be the first operational fighter aircraft AESA radars in the world." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service) 000254. A-76 process broadcast slated WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- People interested in learning more about the A-76 process can tune in to a special broadcast Feb. 24 that will focus on key aspects of the process. Under the A-76 process, the Air Force finds the most efficient and effective way to provide support services by competing the services between in-house staff and private contractors. The broadcast, titled "Spirit of A-76," will air from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. EST and is sponsored by the Acquisition Reform Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense. The host will be Stan Soloway, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology. Mr. Soloway will be joined by a panel of representatives from industry and government. There will also be previously taped interview segments from people throughout the Air Force and other services. Issues being discussed about the A-76 process include public announcement; contract solicitation/negotiation; cost comparison between government and private sector; centralized management approach and administrative appeal process. This broadcast will be accessible via television, telephone call in, and Internet/computer. People can obtain specific information regarding broadcast access at the following web site http://12.26.72.174/arcweb/a76/ 000258. Unmanned combat air vehicle technologies mature at AFRL by Sue Baker Aeronautical Systems Center Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- In early 2001, when America's first unmanned combat air vehicle flies above the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dryden Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., it will carry more than a dozen unique technologies matured by researchers and engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory here. Working side-by-side with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency officials, about 100 full- and part-time AFRL workers in seven directorates are helping Department of Defense decision-makers determine the right mix of critical aerospace technologies for the UCAV system. A $140 million, advanced technology demonstration jointly funded by the Air Force, DARPA and Boeing Co., the UCAV is being developed as an affordable weapon system that expands tactical mission options for U.S. warfighters, while providing new revolutionary air power for two lethal roles: suppression of enemy air defenses and precision strike. "We're ensuring that AFRL will be able to (transfer) mature robust technologies into the UCAV system, as the (advanced technology demonstration) enters Phase III, risk reduction and operational evaluations, slated to begin in late 2002," said Maj. Mark Garner, program manager and technology integration and development team leader in the lab's Air Vehicles Directorate. "Since March 1999, when Phase II began, our team has categorized more than 145 current AFRL research technologies that could be used in UCAVs. We've divided them into categories I and II, depending on the level of risk reduction they bring to the program, and when they might be needed," Garner said. "The category I technologies are more near-term (by 2005)," he said. "The category II technologies will be applied later, during the engineering, manufacturing and development phase, and the initial operational capability of the UCAV system, now planned for approximately 2010." Such promising technologies center in 13 research areas, currently managed by seven of AFRL's nine directorates, according to Garner. They include information collection and fusion; information assessment and presentation; autonomous targeting identification and recognition; miniature munitions systems; fluidless power, actuation and cooling; low-observable antennas; miniaturized modular training environment; mission management and planning; higher-thrust, limited-life, storable engines; and low-cost structures and manufacturing. "By identifying potential UCAV technologies early on, during the present detail, design, fabrication and flight-test phase, we're trying to 'buy down' (reduce) the risk for Phase III," Garner said. "Each technology area has (descending levels of risk) and demonstrations scheduled from now through 2003, to help AFRL determine how specific, matured technologies might benefit UCAV development." One example of a UCAV advanced technology demonstration risk-reduction effort: investigation of low-observable air data, directed by Stanley Pruitt and Dan Thompson of the Air Vehicles Directorate. "If you had a radar antenna or refueling boom projecting into the air from the surface of a UCAV, that would significantly cut down on its mandated stealthiness," said David Lanman, deputy chief of UCAV advanced technology demonstration. "Our AFRL researchers are working with design engineers at Boeing's Phantom Works in Seattle to make UCAV systems as low-observable as possible, to achieve their intended missions." Phase I of the UCAV advanced technology demonstration began in May 1998, with award of contracts worth $4 million each to Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, Boeing Co. and Raytheon Systems Co. In March, DARPA and the Air Force selected Boeing to continue Phase II of the UCAV program. During Phase II, Boeing will complete the UCAV demonstration system, which will involve fabrication of two vehicles and a reconfigurable mission control station. In addition, Boeing will develop and integrate critical technologies being matured by AFRL researchers; continue risk-reduction activities; and conduct flight tests. There is a priced option, currently unfunded, to continue the program into Phase III, according to program officials. "The Boeing UCAV concept will exploit real-time on-board and off-board sensors for quick detection, identification and location of fixed, relocatable, and mobile targets," said Lt. Col. Mike Leahy, DARPA UCAV advanced technology demonstration program manager. "The system's secure communications and advanced cognitive decision aids will provide ground-based, human operators with situational awareness and positive air vehicle control necessary to authorize munitions release. "This tail-less, stealthy air vehicle will carry multiple, advanced, precision-guided munitions, while relaying confirmed battlefield damage back to its mission control system," Leahy said. "Stored in ready-to-ship containers until needed, the UCAV will be able to deploy and operate globally in concert with manned (aerospace) expeditionary forces." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service) 000259. Health officials battle combat stress by Army Staff Sgt. Kathleen T. Rhem American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Defense Department is aiming to ensure that the services treat people for stress reactions from combat and other traumatic events. "Many things beside combat can cause a combat stress reaction," said Army Dr. (Lt. Col.) E. Cameron Ritchie, director of Mental Health Policy and Women's Health for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. "We may have less combat action today, but we still have danger and sleep deprivation, in training exercises and deployments." Ritchie said service members today have to deal with the sight and smell of dead bodies on peacekeeping missions, accidental deaths of unit members, and "working in an environment where people you came to help are shooting at you, as in Somalia." Any of these things can cause a combat stress reaction, she said. "Some people are very critical of the term 'combat stress control,' because we're seeing a lot of situations other than combat," she said. "We're seeing 'operational stress.' That's really the term I prefer." Commanders should be aware that home-front stresses often cause difficulties. "A person may be doing great where he is, but it's the news that his wife is divorcing him, or his kid is having problems in school, or he needs to figure out what to do with his elderly parents, that becomes a precipitating factor", Ritchie said. Two aspects differentiate a "perfectly normal" reaction to trauma and a more severe reaction that requires professional treatment -- how long the reaction lasts and its severity. "It depends on the symptom," Ritchie said. "Nightmares might go on for weeks, but uncontrollable shaking shouldn't last more than a few hours. If someone becomes suicidal or even homicidal it becomes a medical issue. The chain of command should work closely with their medical team to provide the service member immediate help." DOD mental health experts are trying to emphasize to the services the importance of combat stress control to the overall health and fitness of the force, Ritchie said. DOD Directive 6490.5, signed Feb. 23, attempts to implement combat stress control policies throughout the department. The Army has devoted dedicated resources to combat stress control with active and reserve combat stress control units. "The chaplain is a good resource when medical personnel aren't immediately available," Ritchie said. "Corpsmen and medics should also be trained in the basic ideas of combat stress control." "Initial treatment is simple," Ritchie said. "We use the phrase 'three hots and a cot.' I personally think it should be 'three hots, a cot and a warm shower. My mental health goes down drastically after a couple days without a shower." She said soldiers need to know that psychological reactions to traumatic events are normal. Ritchie explained it's also important to treat combat stress casualties as close to the front or to their units as possible, and with the understanding they will return to duty. "We've found that if you ship people out of their units, most never go back, and they don't recover as well," she said. "There's quite a bit of stigma attached to being removed from a unit, and some of these people develop chronic psychiatric conditions." But, Ritchie explained, this policy is also for the unit's benefit. "One of the things we explain to the commands is that 80 (percent) to 90 percent of these people can be returned to duty usually within three days," she said. "If you start evacuating large numbers of soldiers, you're going to have an epidemic, especially if you get into a situation where there's real combat." **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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