The U.S. Air Force Is Looking For A Better Way To Provide Close Air Support

The A-10 has proven itself to be the platform of choice for close air support missions, and many have criticised USAF plans to withdraw the aircraft as a cost saving measure. Source: US Air Force

Colin Clark, Breaking Defense: Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon

ORLANDO: The Air Force, under heavy pressure from Congress to keep the A-10 Warthog in the air, will hold a mini-summit with the Army, Navy and Marines to figure out the best ways to do Close Air Support, the politically sensitive mission of aircraft protecting troops on the ground.

Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, told reporters here at the Air Force Association’s annual winter conference that the service would be looking at all manner of ways to kill enemy troops shooting at American and allied troops. Carlisle said the service would consider buying a new weapon to do CAS.

WNU Editor: I take this as an admission that maybe the F-35 is not up to the job.

The U.S. Air Force Believes That The Future Belongs To Swarm Of Autonomous Warbirds That Explode On Target

The F-35 fighter incorporates all the defining features of a fifth-generation fighter -- advanced stealth, agile maneuver, sensor fusion and high-capacity, secure datalinks. Collectively, those characteristics make it far more survivable and effective in coping with the sophisticated air defenses now becoming available to countries like Syria. (USAF: Courtesy photo Tom Reynolds/Lockheed Martin)

Washington Examiner: The Air Force wants a futuristic swarm of exploding autonomous warbirds

Last week, the Navy had its say on what a sixth-generation fighter should look like, and on Friday, the Air Force joined the discussion.

The Navy envisions heavy firepower and the electronic means to suppress enemy air defenses, while the Air Force imagines a futuristic swarm of autonomous warbirds that explode on target.

WNU Editor: The Navy wants firepower .... the Air Force is looking at still looking at stealth.

The U.S. Air Force's New Advanced Stealth Fighters Will Be Armed With Old And Obsolete Weapons And Missiles

Pentagon Worries That Russia Can Now Outshoot U.S. Stealth Jets -- Dave Majumdar, Daily Beast

American fighter planes are the fastest, most maneuverable jets in the world. But their weapons are becomingly increasingly obsolete—and that has some in the U.S. Air Force spooked.

High flying and fast, the F-22 Raptor stealth jet is by far the most lethal fighter America has ever built. But the Raptor—and indeed all U.S. fighters—have a potential Achilles’ heel, according to a half-dozen current and former Air Force officials. The F-22’s long-range air-to-air missiles might not be able to hit an enemy aircraft, thanks to new enemy radar-jamming techniques.

The issue has come to the fore as tensions continue to rise with Russia and a potential conflict between the great powers is once again a possibility—even if a remote one.

“We—the U.S. [Department of Defense]—haven’t been pursuing appropriate methods to counter EA [electronic attack] for years,” a senior Air Force official with extensive experience on the F-22 told The Daily Beast. “So, while we are stealthy, we will have a hard time working our way through the EA to target [an enemy aircraft such as a Russian-built Sukhoi] Su-35s and our missiles will have a hard time killing them.”

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My Comment: There is more money in the planes (and maintaining them) than developing and manufacturing their missiles and their electronic systems.

A Look At How The U.S. Air Force Determines What Targets Are Attacked By U.S. Jets And Drones

Image: Wikipedia

A Look Inside a Secret US Air Force Intelligence Center -- Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. – While there might not be any American combat boots on the ground in Syria, dozens of manned and unmanned aircraft dot the skies above gathering video and other types of intelligence about the movement of Islamic State militants. The images collected by those aircraft are streamed by satellites in near real-time thousands of miles away to Langley Air Force Base in southern Virginia.

Here in a dimly lit room about the half the size of a football field, airmen — some not even old enough to legally drink alcohol — stare at computer screens interpreting people’s movements and producing intelligence reports that could ultimately be read by President Barack Obama. And without those soldiers on the ground in Syria and Iraq providing context, it’s largely up to these intelligence analysts to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys.

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My Comment: This intelligence group is busy ....

....  The 480th receives about 20 terabytes of data each day. In 2013, the wing processed 460,000 hours of full-motion video, disseminated 2.6 million images and generated 1.7 million signals intelligence reports, according to Air Force officials.

A Detailed Look At How A U.S. Air Strike Is Conducted

A MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft. REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Pratt/Handout

Anatomy Of An Air Strike: Three Intelligence Streams Working In Concert -- David Axe and Robert Beckhusen, Reuters

In a fast-moving war with an elusive foe like the Islamic State militants, information is as important as guns, jet fighters and bombs.

Sometime early this summer, U.S. Special Operations Forces launched a raid into Syria in an effort to rescue several American hostages being held by the group. But the commandos’ information was out of date. The captives were no longer in the target area.

The attempted rescue, which the Obama administration revealed one day after a graphic video was posted depicting an Islamic State member beheading kidnapped American journalist James Foley, underscores the importance of timely intelligence. The Pentagon’s escalating campaign against Islamic State fighters in Iraq depends completely on reliable information.

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My Comment: Intelligence, having assets on the ground and in the air, and coordination .... these are the three critical components in a U.S. air strike. On paper this looks like something that is easy to do .... but in the real world .... I suspect that making all three work together in a timely fashion is not as easy as it looks.

The U.S. Air Force's 30-Year Strategy On Future Technology Revealed

Here Is The Futuristic Technology The Air Force Is Targeting Over The Next 30 Years -- Allan Smith, Business Insider

The Air Force recently released its outline for a 30-year strategy, charting the future of a branch of the military that has been recently transformed by technological innovations like the development of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles. In the new plan, the Air Force highlighted technologies it would be targeting in the coming decades.

The advances will focus on adding even more "speed, range, flexibility, and precision" to the Force's operations.

"The aircraft as an instrument of war was once considered 'game changing,'" the report says. "Pursuit of the next 'game changing' technology is central to maintaining the asymmetric advantage our Air Force has always provided the nation."

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My Comment: A good summary on where the U.S. Air Force is going.