Gen. Charles Brown: Air Force Must ‘Rightsize’ Capabilities to Confront Global Security Threats
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Gen. Charles Brown: Air Force Must ‘Rightsize’ Capabilities to Confront Global Security Threats

Gen. Charles Brown Jr., chief of staff at the U.S. Air Force, said at a National Press Club event Friday that the service branch must determine the right mix of force, aircraft and technology necessary to confront projected national and global security challenges in 2030.

Brown told an audience of reporters, editors and industry representatives that reshaping the force is necessary to ensure USAF will gain an advantage in contested environments, maintain its credibility with allies and help defend national interests.

He noted that the branch should start its transition to the future force design as China continues to pursue military modernization and economic reform efforts for the country’s global power ambition.

“I really believe, without change, we are at risk of losing,” Brown said.

“We can keep what we have today but that’s not going to match up against the threat we have in the future.”

The USAF chief of staff said the service is analyzing the distribution and interaction of its personnel, systems and planes.

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DARPA Picks 3 Teams for Antimicrobial Therapeutics Development Program
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DARPA Picks 3 Teams for Antimicrobial Therapeutics Development Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected teams from Yale University, University of Washington and Broad Institute to support a program meant to develop therapeutics for multidrug resistant microbial infections.

The three teams will use synthetic chemistry, drug discovery methods, chemical biology and medicinal chemistry to combat bacterial pathogens under DARPA’s Harnessing Enzymatic Activity for Lifesaving Remedies program, the agency said Friday.

Seth Cohen, HEALR program manager, said the program aims to help speed up recoveries of warfighters and help them control bacterial infections by developing drugs that can home in on “highly resistant and immune-evasive bacterial infections.”

HEALR will address three technical areas: microbial targeting, host machinery engagement and platform integration. 

The program’s initial phase will run for 24 months and efforts under this phase will demonstrate the HEALR concept’s effectiveness. The second phase will enable the teams to further develop their technology and demonstrate the efficacy of their treatments against a pathogenic target. The teams will be required to send their drug candidates for review by the Food and Drug Administration.

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Navy to Adapt Boeing-Built Airborne Early Warning Aircraft for Pilot Training
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Navy to Adapt Boeing-Built Airborne Early Warning Aircraft for Pilot Training

Naval Air Systems Command intends to modify a retired Boeing-built E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft the military branch procured from the British air force for $15 million.

NAVAIR said Wednesday its airborne strategic command, control and communications program office will repurpose the recently acquired AWACS platform into an E-6B communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft for training use.

E-6B Mercury airplanes are designed to help U.S. strategic and non-strategic forces communicate with the National Command Authority.

The command’s PMA-271 personnel conducted an E-3D material inspection before the program office made a procurement decision and the team expects to deploy the future trainer to the fleet by October 2023.

NAVAIR estimates that the E-6 aircraft will cut the number of flight hours by 600 and the number of landings or cycles by 2,400 annually.

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Air Mobility Command OKs Interim Use of KC-46A Boom Refueling Mission Set
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Air Mobility Command OKs Interim Use of KC-46A Boom Refueling Mission Set

The KC-46A Pegasus' boom mission set has been declared by Air Mobility Command as ready for interim operations. 

Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of AMC, issued interim capability release approval that allows aircrew to refuel other KC-46, B-52H Stratofortress and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for U.S. Transportation Command, AMC said Friday.

The refueling boom ICR decision comes nearly one month after Van Ovost approved operational use of the Boeing-built military aerial refueling platform's Centerline Drogue System mission set.

“Though a fully-mission capable aircraft is a few years away, releasing capability our KC-46 bases have demonstrated they can safely and effectively support and employ is a large part of how AMC is accelerating the KC-46 on the path to becoming fully operational and combat-ready,” said Brig. Gen. Ryan Samuelson, deputy director of strategy, plans, requirements and programs at AMC.

Senate Bill Aims to Improve US Cybercrime Data Collection
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Senate Bill Aims to Improve US Cybercrime Data Collection

A bipartisan bill introduced by four senators seeks to provide law enforcement agencies with tools to collect and report data about online crimes that affected individuals and businesses in the U.S.

The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act calls for the National Academies of Science to coordinate with public sector stakeholders, businesses and criminologists to organize a database that would classify and quantify malicious activities on the internet, the office of Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Thursday.

Schatz sponsored the bill with fellow Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are the bill's sponsors.

The legislation would also mandate to add computer crime incidents to the bureau's reporting platforms and require the Bureau of Justice Statistics to incorporate cyber-related questions into the annual National Crime Victimization Survey.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that the total amount individuals and businesses lost to internet crimes, such as non-payment/non-delivery scams, increased from $3.5 billion in 2019 to $4.2 billion in 2020.

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1st TH-73A Training Helicopter Lands at Naval Air Station in Florida
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1st TH-73A Training Helicopter Lands at Naval Air Station in Florida

The U.S. Navy has received its first unit of the Leonardo-built TH-73A Thrasher helicopter through which undergraduate maritime pilots will undergo flight training.

Future aviators from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will train with the modern avionics-equipped helicopter, which replaces the existing TH-57B/C Sea Ranger, the Navy said Friday.

The Thrasher is developed to deliver better power, speed, payload and endurance than the Sea Ranger, with the enhancements being intended to address capability and capacity challenges and improve preparations for naval pilots. Some of the helicopter's features are fully integrated flight management system, automatic flight control system and digital cockpit displays.

Executives from the Chief of Naval Air Training office, Leonardo Helicopters and Vertex Aerospace welcomed Thrasher at Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

Leonardo produced the aircraft in Philadelphia and Vertex will support maintenance activities.

“Using current cockpit technologies and a new training curriculum, AHTS will improve pilot training and skills and ensure rotary wing and tilt-rotor aviators are produced more efficiently at a higher quality and are ready to meet the fleet’s challenges,” said Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff, CNTRA.

The Navy's TH-73A Helicopter Instructor Training Unit will use the first Thrasher to validate the aircraft's corresponding, modern curriculum.

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DSCA Looks to Promote Asset Transfer Option in Foreign Military Sales Program
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DSCA Looks to Promote Asset Transfer Option in Foreign Military Sales Program

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency is looking to promote a third-party transfer option for U.S. allies and partner nations that do not have large defense budgets to procure aircraft or weapons systems through the Department of Defense's foreign military sales program, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Col. Anthony Walker, senior materiel leader in the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate's international division, told the publication that DSCA Director Heidi Grant is exploring financing options for potential FMS clients and how the agency can help domestic suppliers complete in the international defense market.

Walker noted that the U.S. Air Force could also transfer its offloaded platforms to other countries through a “ramp-to-ramp” process.

“We can take aircraft out of the boneyard, refurbish it and provide that to a partner; we’ve done that, numerous times in the past few years."

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NIST Seeks Comments for Draft Publication on Cyber-Resilient Systems
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NIST Seeks Comments for Draft Publication on Cyber-Resilient Systems

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on a draft publication made to help organizations understand cyber resiliency outcomes from the perspective of a systems engineer.

The publication, titled “Developing Cyber-Resilient Systems: A Systems Security Engineering Approach,” tackles how organizations can adopt a cybersecurity strategy that allows for internal system defense, instead of external defense, NIST said.

The agency designed the guidance to help organizations predict, resist and overcome state-sponsored and criminal cyber attacks, as well as other system threats.

The document also provides standardized threat classifications and  analyzes approaches to implementing cyber resiliency across systems. NIST's Ron Ross and Victoria Pillitteri worked with Mitre's Richard Graubart, Deborah Bodeau and Rosalie McQuaid to author the draft.

Interested parties may submit feedback through Sept. 20th.

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Col. Eric Felt: Space Force Needs Balanced Strategy to Produce Short-Term Results
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Col. Eric Felt: Space Force Needs Balanced Strategy to Produce Short-Term Results

Top military space researcher Col. Eric Felt has called on a balanced U.S. Space Force investment and planning strategy to produce short-term results and address long-term issues. 

Felt, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate chief, spoke at the National Security Space Association event following recent Congress criticism of the nearly two-year-old military service's slow acquisition processes.

"I am disappointed at the pace at which we’ve been able to move to a more resilient space architecture," said Felt, conceding that the Space Force must work with existing capabilities that need updating for the future fight.

Meanwhile, the colonel suggested that the Space Force face the risks associated with adopting new and innovative technologies, offering to show leaders himself "that we actually can do some of these future things proliferate."

Felt's comments come a year before the Air Force is mandated to hand over acquisition authorities to a professional at the assistant secretary level in October 2022.

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PSC Wants Section 3610 Extended, Retained Following Positive Contractor Response; EVP David Broome Quoted
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PSC Wants Section 3610 Extended, Retained Following Positive Contractor Response; EVP David Broome Quoted

The Professional Services Council (PSC) has called on the extension or permanent retention of a key reimbursement clause within the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

PSC pointed out Thursday that a majority of contractors recently interviewed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the paid leave reimbursement under CARES Act Section 3610 useful in retaining employees.

In its recent report, GAO explained that contractors could receive remuneration from government agencies to pay employees who could not access work locations or telework during the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 3610.

"This GAO report highlights what contractors have shared since Section 3610 was enacted: the program is utilized, valuable, and retains critical personnel as intended," pointed out David Broome, PSC's executive vice president.

Broome added that the section could help the government and contractors prepare for future health emergencies. According to PSC, it already wrote Congress in mid-June regarding the section's future before it expires on Sept. 30.

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