New Aircraft Types to Enter Service
Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche revealed a list of
new focus areas, as well as planned changes to existing systems and
proposals for new aircraft that could significantly increase the
service’s lethality and effectiveness.
The secretary laid out plans to improve special operations,
close-air support and battlefield management systems and
recommended a trio of new battle management aircraft. Dr. Roche
made his remarks Feb. 12 at the Air Force Association’s 2004
Air Warfare Symposium in Lake Buena Vista (FL). Dr. Roche opened
the symposium by explaining what direction he recommends the
service takes regarding mission systems.
The first area the secretary said demanded increased investments
and attention is special operations. He cited Deputy Secretary of
Defense Paul Wolfowitz who said the real success in Afghanistan was
not limited to the Air Force’s ability to fly bombers halfway
around the world, but that we had "brave men on the ground to
direct that airpower."
"Wherever we fight in the future, the capabilities of our
special operators will be integral to our success," Dr. Roche said.
"As such, our special operators deserve Air Force focus and
attention."
The special operations investments Dr. Roche recommended
were:
- A new, medium lift personnel recovery vehicle to replace the
aging HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter fleet.
- Replace the MH-35 Pave Low with the CV-22 Osprey.
- Replace the seven variants of the aging C-130 Hercules with a
new aircraft, perhaps bridging the transformation with a new
C-130.
"We also envision a future that includes unmanned aerial
vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft playing an expanded role in
special operations," Dr. Roche said. "The next gunship capability
may work out to be a family of platforms that fuse manned and
unmanned, lethal and non-lethal fires and state of the art
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies."
Another mission deserving special attention is close-air
support, which, according to Dr. Roche, "reflects our desire for
full integration with land forces, to include special forces, Army,
Marines and coalition forces."
The battlefield air operations kit under development, and
partially deployed, has reduced gear weight by 50 percent.
Machine-to-machine equipment interfaces reduce the time it takes to
link sensors to shooters by 40 percent. The Air Force is also
investigating a portable unmanned aerial vehicle to extend sphere
of influence and greatly increase situational awareness.
"We see a near-term future where they can designate a target up
to 10 kilometers away, automatically communicate precise targeting
coordinates to our aircraft, and receive an expected time of
‘weapons arrival’ in a conformation message," Dr. Roche
said.
The secretary also wants to place these battlefield airmen into
a family of warfare specializations.
"It is a new way of thinking," Dr. Roche said. “Just as we
have a family of airmen we call ‘pilots’ with a variety
of specialties -- helicopter, fighter, tanker, airlift, bomber --
we need to start thinking about these specialized warriors, these
‘battlefield airmen,’ in similar terms. We need to
consolidate our battlefield airmen -- combat controllers,
pararescue personell, combat weather, special tactics, and tactical
air controllers -- under a common organizational and training
structure, and strengthen the combat power they bring to the
battlefield, whether it be in Air Combat Command or in Air Force
Special Operations Command. Among other reasons, we should do this
to provide career-based, tailored force development for each of
them.”
The secretary also announced study teams that would consider
options for systems that support those battlefield airmen,
including:
- An initiative to create families of unmanned aerial vehicles
and remotely piloted aircraft to support land combat.
- Improve a number of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs with sensor system
upgrades, new engines and service-life extensions.
- A short take-off, vertical landing variant of the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter, with emphasis on short take-off and landing
capability.
Dr. Roche then laid out a strategy to improve battle management
using a trio of wide-body aircraft equipped with sensor technology
and advanced command and control functions.