Air and Space Forces gearing up for future threats: Weapons and Warfare

Feb 28, 2024 at 03:00 AM CST

In this week's episode of Weapons and Warfare, the Air and Space Forces are making changes to prepare their branches for global threats. — Image credit: DVIDS

In this episode of Weapons and Warfare, the Air and Space Forces are making changes to improve their readiness in the face of constantly evolving threats from around the world. Senior leadership is giving service members a glimpse into the direction each branch is headed.

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Also featured in this episode:

A timeline for the delivery of F-16 Fighting Falcons to Ukraine.
The Navy commissions its newest ship in San Diego.
Houthi rebels claim victory in the downing of a U.S. Reaper drone.
An engineer from the Air Force Research Laboratory explains how nature served as inspiration for the MUTANT — this week’s weapon of the week.

You can subscribe to the Weapons and Warfare podcast on the platform of your choosing here.

Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: Air and Space Force, Air Force, F-16 fighter jets, Navy, U.S. Space Force, Ukraine, War, Weapons

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WELCOME TO WEAPONS AND WARFARE, FROM STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M YOUR HOST RYAN ROBERTSON, AND WE’VE GOT ANOTHER GREAT SHOW FOR YOU THIS WEEK. GETTING OUR GEEK ON JUST A BIT.

JUST AHEAD IN OUR DEBRIEF A LOOK AT SOME SWEEPING CHANGES THE AIR AND SPACE FORCES ARE MAKING TO STAY READY, WILLING, AND ABLE IN THE FACE OF CONSTANTLY EVOLVING THREATS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. PLUS A BREAKDOWN OF THE MUTANT MISSILE FROM THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY IN OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK. IN COMMS CHECK WE’RE TALKING ABOUT REFURBISHING WEAPONS AND SOME DUPLICITOUS DIPLOMACY. PLUS MY THOUGHTS ON THE FALL OF AVDIIVKA IN EASTERN UKRAINE.

BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.

FOR ALL OF THE AID UKRAINE HAS RECEIVED FOR THEIR FIGHT AGAINST RUSSIA’S ILLEGAL INVASION, PERHAPS NO CONTRIBUTION HAS BEEN AS ANTICIPATED AS 19, AMERICAN MADE, F-16s FROM DENMARK. THE FIRST OF WHICH WILL ARRIVE IN UKRAINE SOMETIME THIS SUMMER, MOST LIKELY JUNE.

THAT WORD COMING FROM THE DANISH DEFENSE MINISTER LAST WEEK. TROELS LUND POULSEN TOLD ASSEMBLED MEDIA,

“The war in Ukraine is entering its third year, and so continued military support for Ukraine is completely decisive for the outcome of the war.”

THE F-16s ARE IN ADDITION TO AN AID PACKAGE WORTH MORE THAN $246 MILLION.

WHILE CONGRESS CONTINUES TO DRAG ITS HEELS IN PROVIDING MORE MUCH-NEEDED ASSISTANCE, THE AMERICAN MILITARY IS DOING WHAT IT CAN BY PROVIDING AIR AND GROUND TRAINING FOR UKRAINIAN TROOPS THAT WILL FLY AND MAINTAIN THE DONATED FIGHTER JETS.

THE NAVY CAN NOW COUNT A NEW SHIP IN ITS ARSENAL. ON FEBRUARY 17th THE USS JOHN L. CANLEY WAS OFFICIALLY COMMISSIONED. THE PULLER CLASS EXPEDITIONARY MOBILE BASE IS THE FOURTH OF IT’S KIND AND THE FIRST TO BE NAMED AFTER A MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER. THE SHIP’S FIRST CAPTAIN SPOKE DURING THE COMMISSIONING CEREMONY, AT NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND.

[CAPT Thomas Mays, Commanding Officer, USS John L. Canley]

“You all have just brought this ship to life. That’s not just a metaphor to me. Her body is well and strongly built right here in San Diego. Her spirit lived strong for 83 years until the first plank was laid. Imbued with honor, courage, and selfless sacrifice by her namesake.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE 784-FOOT SHIP WILL BE ABLE TO DEPLOY TROOPS AND EQUIPMENT IN AREAS WHERE THE U.S. DOESN’T HAVE EASY ACCESS TO LAND OR PORTS.

TO THE RED SEA WHERE, AFTER HAVING COUNTLESS NUMBERS OF THEIR MISSILES TAKEN OUT, THE PENTAGON IS CONFIRMING THE HOUTHIS SUCCESSFULLY DOWNED AN AMERICAN DRONE.

[Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary]

“I can confirm that on February 19th, a U.S. MQ-9 was downed — or went down off the coast of Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, in the Red Sea. Initial indications are that it was shot down by a Houthi surface-to-air missile. In terms of recovery options, I know CENTCOM is looking into that, but I don’t believe it has been recovered at this time..”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AT LEAST NOT RECOVERED BY THE U.S. VIDEO CLIPS MAKING THE ROUND ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA SITE FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER, SHOW PARTS AND PIECES OF WHAT APPEAR TO BE A REAPER DRONE. THERE ARE ALSO CLIPS CLAIMING TO HAVE CAUGHT THE SHOOTDOWN ON CAMERA. STILL, ACCORDING TO THE PENTAGON, THE U.S. HAS BEEN ABLE TO INTERUPT AT LEAST TWO MORE DELIVERIES OF WEAPONS INTENDED FOR THE HOUTHIS IN EARLY FEBRUARY AS WELL AS 32 STRIKES FIRED AT HOUTHI-HELD POSITIONS.

—

ONE OF THE THINGS YOU NOTICE FIRST AT AN EVENT LIKE THE 2024 AIR WARFARE SYMPOSIUM IS A COLLECTION OF BUZZWORDS, ACRONYMS AND WELL-CRAFTED PHRASINGS. BUT DISTILLED DOWN THIS YEAR’S MESSAGING WAS PRETTY SIMPLE. CHANGE IS COMING.

FOR THE UNINITIATED THE BRIGHT LIGHTS AND BIG DISPLAYS ON THE EXPOSITION FLOOR CAN EASILY STEAL YOUR ATTENTION FROM THE REAL STORY OF THIS YEAR’S GATHERING. UNVEILED IN THE OPENING HOURS WERE 24 NEW PRIORITIES FOR AIR AND SPACE FORCE LEADERSHIP. THE GOAL IS TO BECOME A MORE NIMBLE FORCE THAT LEANS ON THE TEAMWORK THAT’S ESTABLISHED AT HOME BASES.

[Gen David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force]

“That’s what this is about. Taking this Air Force that has the best talent, the best teamwork, and re-optimizing it to dominate this game in the way it’s gonna be played now and into the future. That’s what this is about.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS CHANGES WILL BE HOW COMBAT WINGS ARE FORMED. GONE WILL BE THE TRADITIONAL AIR EXPEDITIONARY WINGS’. IN THEIR PLACE, ‘DEPLOYABLE COMBAT WINGS’, ‘IN-PLACE COMBAT WINGS’ AND COMBAT GENERATION WINGS. THE GOAL IS TO PUT TOGETHER UNITS THAT HAVE EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY, RATHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF PIECING TOGETHER VARIOUS UNITS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

[Gen David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force]

“We can no longer afford to move slowly. And if you wanna move fast and coherently you have to be in unison, you have to be integrated.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

GENERAL ALVIN DIDN’T PROVIDE A TIMETABLE FOR AIR FORCE-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS CONCEPT; A PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED TESTING AT THREE BASES IN THE SUMMER OF 2024 HAS ALREADY BEEN SUSPENDED.

WHILE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CHANGES ANNOUNCED ARE TOO NUMEROUS TO FULLY RECOUNT HERE, THEY FALL INTO FOUR CATEGORIES: DEVELOP PEOPLE, GENERATE READINESS, PROJECT POWER, AND DEVELOP CAPABILITIES.

[Gen David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force]

“I am unapologetic to stand here in front of you and say I do not know the final destination. -And here’s why, because if we wait to move to have those final answers, we will be too late.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE SWEEPING CHANGES FOR THE 76-YEAR-OLD AIR FORCE CERTAINLY MAKE SENSE, THE FOUR-YEAR-OLD SPACE FORCE ISN’T SITTING IDLE. THEY TOO ARE PART OF THE TWO DOZEN PRIORITIES OUTLINED AT THE SYMPOSIUM. ONE OF THE HEADLINE CHANGES IS THE CREATION OF A NEW FIELD COMMAND.

[Gen Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, USFF]

“So we are going to establish a space futures command that is combined of three centers that starts to ask these fundamental questions. That puts together a force that we can offer to combatant commanders that doesn’t just have the systems. It has the tactics, the training, the operational concepts.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE BOTH LEADERS EMPHASIZED THAT CHANGE IS RARELY EASY, GENERAL SALTZMAN MADE OF POINT OF FRAMING THESE SHIFTS IN PRIORITIES AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SPACE FORCE GUARDIANS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THEIR GROWING BRANCH OF SERVICE.

[Gen Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, USFF]

“I challenge all of you to jump on board. We get to reoptimize for space. It’s not that we must reoptimize for space. We know, or for a great power competition, we know that we get to reoptimize. It’s, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY THAT COMES WITH A LOT OF MOTIVATING FACTORS. THE BIGGEST OF WHICH ARE PLAYING OUT IN THE BATTLEFIELDS OF UKRAINE, THE SHIPPING LANES OF THE RED SEA, AND CHINA’S STATED INTENTIONS TO REUNIFY TAIWAN, BY FORCE IF THEY SEE FIT TO DO SO.

[Frank Kendall, Sec. of the Air Force]

”We’re in a sprint to get better and improve our readiness posture, but we’re also in a marathon that’s to stay competitive over time. We got a lot of hard work to do. This is the most difficult intense, focused threat that I’ve ever seen us face. And we’re just gonna have to respond accordingly.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR A FULL ACCOUNTING OF ALL THE CHANGES ON TAP FOR BOTH THE AIR AND SPACE FORCES JUST HIT THE LINKS BELOW.

—

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN YOU HEAR THE TERM “MUTANT” YOU MIGHT THINK OF A CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD B-MOVIE, OR MAYBE THOSE HEROES IN A HALF-SHELL, THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. BUT THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB, OR AFRL, IS HOPING TO ADD A NEW DEFINITION TO YOUR MENTAL ROLODEX.

MEET THE MUTANT. ON THE SURFACE IT LOOKS, LIKE MOST ANY OTHER MISSISLE. BUT LIKE IT’S NAME SUGGESTS, THERE’S SOMETHING DIFFERENT AT WORK HERE. THAT WOULD BE THE ARTICULATION CONTROL ACTUATION SYSTEM. TO PUT IT IN LAYMAN’S TERMS, THE HEAD AND FINS OF THE MISSILE CAN MOVE TO MEET THE TARGET. THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS APPLICATION CAME FROM ANOTHER PREDATOR.

[Dr. Ben Dickinson, Research Engineer, Air Force Research Laboratory}

They noticed a really interesting thing when these Falcons would intercept their prey. As the head moved, the tail would move. And there seemed to be a cause-and-effect relationship between head movement and tell them apart from that, there’s a target tracking the target detection function of the head. And so this got us thinking because Falcons have the same objectives as missiles and interceptors, get the target and capture.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

PROPERLY INSPIRED, THE AFRL ENGINEERS SET ABOUT TURNING AN IDEA INTO A REALITY. THE MISSILE ON DISPLAY AT THE RECENT AIR WARFARE SYMPOSIUM IS THE END RESULT OF YEARS OF WORK. THE MUTANT, WHICH IS AN ACRONYM FOR MISSILE UTILITY TRANSFORMATION VIA ARTICULATED NOSE TECHNOLOGY, IS A WEAPON THAT CAN ADJUST FOR SLIGHT MISSES, WHILE IN FLIGHT. HELPING TO ENSURE THAT WHEN A PUNCH IS THROWN, IT HITS THE TARGET, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE. AS FOR HOW THAT PUNCH IS THROWN, THEY’RE STILL WORKING ON IT.

[Dr. Ben Dickinson, Research Engineer, Air Force Research Labratory]

“We’re exploring a broad target set, we’re looking at offensive roles, we’re looking at defensive roles, we’re looking at surface launch functions. All of these kind of go into our figuring about the future instance of a system that may employ this technology to provide overall operational value to the warfighter.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE MUTANT IS SET FOR TESTING LATER THIS YEAR WITH THE HELLFIRE MISSILE. AS FOR WHEN IT MIGHT BE READY FOR USE IN THE REAL WORLD, THAT, AS THEY SAY, IS TBD.

—

COMMS CHECK

—

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TO END THE SHOW THIS WEEK FOLKS, I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE ABOUT AVDIIVKA, A SMALL UKRAINIAN TOWN THAT USED TO BE HOME TO ABOUT 30,000 PEOPLE. THAT’S ABOUT THE SIZE OF KEARNEY, NEBRASKA OR ABOUT TWICE THE SIZE OF MARTHA’S VINEYARD. AVDIIVKA, OR WHAT WAS LEFT OF IT, FELL THIS PAST WEEK TO RUSSIA. THE TOWN HAD SEEN ALMOST A DECADE OF FIGHTING.

WHEN RUSSIAN-BACK SEPARATISTS CREATED THE DONETSK PEOPLE REPUBLIC, AVDIIVKA FELL WITHIN THOSE MADE-UP BOUNDARIES AND WAS A FRONTLINE CITY DURING THE EARLY DAYS OF FIGHTING IN THE DONBAS BACK IN 2017.

AVDIIVKA FELL BECAUSE UKRAINE DIDN’T HAVE THE RESOURCES ANYMORE TO DEFEND IT. RUSSIA LOST TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TROOPS TAKING THE CITY JUST LIKE IN BAKHMUT BUT THEY TOOK THE CITY, JUST LIKE IN BAKHMUT.

IF ANYTHING, AVDIIVKA PROVES PUTIN AND HIS COMMANDERS ARE WILLING TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS WHATEVER THE COST.

AVDIIVKA, BAKHMUT AND THE ENTIRE WAR, REALLY, ARE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PROMISES OF PROTECTION ARE BROKEN. WHEN THE SOVIET UNION FELL, UKRAINE HAD NUCLEAR WEAPONS… WEAPONS WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN USED AS A DETERRENT AGAINST FUTURE ATTACKS. BUT UNDER A 1994 AGREEMENT, CALLED THE BUDAPEST MEMORANDUM, UKRAINE GAVE UP ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH THE PROMISE THAT THE U.S. THE UK AND RUSSIA WOULD GUARANTEE THE COUNTRY’S SAFETY.

NOW, I’M NOT SO NAIVE TO THINK A NUCLEAR ARMED UKRAINE IN THE 90S AND EARLY 2000S WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT IDEA BUT, I WOULD HOPE WHEN COUNTRIES LIKE THE U.S. AND UK, WHICH PRIDE THEMSELVES ON MAINTAINING THE MORAL HIGH GROUND… MAKE A PROMISE TO DEFEND YOU, THAT THEY WOULD FOLLOW THROUGH.

YES, THE AMERICANS SENT BILLIONS IN AID TO UKRAINE BUT ASIDE FROM SOME SELECT SYSTEM, MOST OF WHAT WE SENT UKRAINE WAS OLDER, OUTDATED EQUIPMENT. WE LITERALLY PIECED TOGETHER AN AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM WITH PARTS WE HAD LYING AROUND, CALLED FRANKENSAM AND SENT IT OVER. IS THAT COMING TO THE DEFENSE OF UKRAINE?

KEEPING OUR WORD AS A NATION MATTERS. NOT JUST AS A MATTER OF HONOR, BUT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE NATION.

IN THE PACIFIC, THE U.S. IS GOING TO NEED THE HELP OF PARTNER NATIONS TO STOP CHINESE AGGRESSION IF BEIJING MOVES ON TAIWAN OR TRIES TO HAMPER TRADE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA OR TRIES TO TAKE OVER THE ARCTIC, WHICH IS ALSO A CONCERN.

PERSONALLY, I HOPE JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA AND ALL OF OUR ALLIED AND PARTNER NATIONS THE WORLD OVER CAN KEEP THEIR PROMISES TO THE US BETTER THAN THE U.S. IS KEEPING ITS PROMISE TO UKRAINE.

SO THAT’S MY WRAP AND THAT’S THE SHOW. HOPEFULLY YOU LEARNED SOMETHING TODAY. OF COURSE, PLEASE REMEMBER IF YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH US YOUR THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS ABOUT THE CONTENT WE PRESENT. YOU CAN DO SO IN THE COMMENTS BELOW OR BY EMAILING US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE AT SAN.COM.

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER, GRAPHICS DESIGNER DAKOTA PITEO, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.

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