The F-47 and the future of air combat: Weapons and Warfare

everything old is new again from reforger to reform pack the air force dusts off a decade

old exercise and reformats it for the pacific we'll talk about it and solving problems at the

tactical edge see how this virginia-based company is enabling soldiers sailors airmen and marines

to 3D print solutions to countless problems right in the battle space

Hey folks, and welcome to another edition of Weapons and Warfare for Straight Arrow News

I'm your host, Ryan Robertson. Those stories and more are just ahead on this week's episode

but we're starting with an eye on the future. Specifically, the Air Force's vision for the F-47, the collaborative combat aircraft

and their roles in maintaining air dominance. It's the subject of this week's debrief

Look at any modern military success the United States has achieved since World War II

and a few themes emerge. One of the most prominent is air dominance

Created as its own branch of service in 1947, the Air Force played a significant role in America's defense for nearly eight decades

So what do the next 77 years look like? To begin to answer that question, the Air Force's Director of Force Design, Integration, and Wargaming, Major General Joe Kunkel, sat down to talk about the F-47 collaborative combat aircraft and American air dominance in the 21st century

He says after more than three decades of focusing on the Middle East, the Air Force is taking a very hard look at itself, comparing it to the end of Vietnam and the start of the Cold War

We're looking at it going, wow, we're probably not the right size. We're probably not the right shape for this fight that we might have to fight against a different peer adversary

And so this force design is taking a different look. It's just like in the past

We're taking a look at the threat and we're looking at how the threat impacts us. And we're designing to that

Part of that design is leaning heavily into developing the F-47. Born from the next-generation air dominance program, the Boeing-designed jet will be America's first sixth-generation air superiority fighter

But it's not without some controversy. Frank Kendall, the Secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration, publicly questioned the effort

citing cost, the eventual addition of CCAs to the force, and untapped potential in the current F-35 fleet

That's not a view shared by General Kunkel. The F-47, the NGAD, before we called it the F-47

absolutely does matter and changes the character of the fight. I mean, it does

It doesn't change the character of the fight just for the Air Force. It changes it for the Joint Force

It allows the Joint Force to get places where it otherwise couldn't

It allows us to move closer to the adversary. It allows us to counter the adversary in ways we can't

With an expected combat radius of more than 1,100 miles and a top speed around Mach 2

the F-47 is expected to enter service sometime before 2029. That's around the same time as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft

also known as the CCA, is expected to fly into service as well

These unmanned machines are seen as one of the key next steps in the DoD's efforts

to modernize the nation's defense. What CCA does in the fight is twofold. One, it provides affordable mass. But the other thing it does is it complicates the picture for an adversary. And, you know, as an air-to-air guy, we all know that the easiest picture is this single axis, single azimuth, you know, picture to fight. What's more complex and harder to fight is this multi-axis, dense threat environment. And with CCAs, we have the opportunity to do that

This past March, the Air Force narrowed the list of potential builders for the project down to two, General Atomics and Anduril

Ground testing for the initial prototypes, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A started in May with the first flights anticipated sometime this summer

The Air Force intends to reach a production decision for increment one of the program a little less than a year from now

Ultimately, General Kunkel sees the CCA as not only a force multiplier, but a force enhancer

CCA integration with F-47 makes the F-47 better. CCA integration with F-35, F-22, I would suggest potentially in the future of B-21, E-7, and maybe just CCA on its own

Complicates the adversary picture. Puts us in a better position where it makes the fight better for all of us

While much of the Air Force's planning is focused on years down the road

Kunkel says they are paying attention to what's happening around the world right now

citing examples of current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, acknowledging that bigger may not be better when it comes to neutralizing threats

If we're shooting multi-million dollar missiles against multi-thousand dollar drones, we're in this costing position that doesn't make sense for us

And we've been pursuing cheaper weapons in a mix of, you know, affordable mass for a long time

But that just, it was one more example where it's like, hey, this affordable mass, there's something to it

We need to figure out how to do it so we don find ourselves on you know depleting weapons when frankly we don need to One thing the Air Force is very aware of is the traditional thinking about what air superiority looks like and how that likely to change as programs like the B CCA and F come online

There's probably places where there's mutual air denial, where no one has air superiority

but we're denying the air domain to the adversary. And I think, you know

in some of these cases that may be perfectly acceptable where we don't have like this

dominating presence all the time over, over, we're not trying to take over a plot of air

but we're certainly trying to deny it from the adversary and deny its use. Now

is that your superiority? I don't know. I tend to think it is, uh, um, but it may not be

you know, the traditional definition that we've had. General Kunkel went on to say that the way

the Air Force builds its arsenal is changing, moving from a this fighter or this bomber mindset

to one of this system or that system. A total integration of fighters, bombers, air refuelers

hypersonics, and unmanned aircraft, just to name a few. We are on the verge of something great

We've got the right people in place to develop the right capabilities. We figured out what it

takes to win. And we are aggressively pursuing those things. All right, time now for some

headlines that you may have missed. Senior producer and Air Force veteran Brett Baker

joins us once again. Brett, over the weekend, I went down to Kansas City to visit some family

and I got this awesome new water bottle. I just had to show it off to you. It kind of leaks a

little bit. I don't know if it's a North Korean water bottle, not really the best, but it looks

great so i just wanted to show that to you be sure to record yourself going through tsa the next

time we go somewhere absolutely your backpack yeah i'm gonna put that in there and just you

know i'll have you on the other side and you know we'll see what happens uh they got rid of the uh

fluid restrictions we don't have to take our shoes off uh anymore so maybe i'll be able to get through

let's see all right let's go ahead and get to those headlines what do you say let's do it

The Ukrainian Air Force has some new vehicles to bolster the operation and maintenance of its F-16 Vipers

as they continue to battle back against Russia's illegal invasion. Provided by the Charitable Foundation Come Back Alive

these vehicles will help with munitions handling and serve as a mobile command post of sorts

With at least 85 F-16s pledged to the Ukrainians, this kind of ground support is really a big deal, Brett

And, you know, looking at it, it's kind of taking all of the operations that you would normally see at a base and putting that on the move so that these F-16s can operate from austere locations

Yeah, it's a big deal. One of the things we learned when we were at the Air Force Warfare Symposium, Air Force Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora earlier this year, was the then USAFE, U.S. Air Force's Europe commander, was talking to some folks from Ukraine and asking them about how they're keeping Russia on their heels with the new F-16s

And one of the things he learned was they don't land at the same base they take off from, which is pretty smart

But so a vehicle like this really helps in that endeavor. It kind of, you know, yeah, definitely keeps the Russians guessing

They don't know where when those jets are going to touch down. So having these vehicles be able to go to wherever that next spot is, is a big deal in establishing that infrastructure that to this point, you know, Ukraine is still building out for these F-16s

Exactly. Yeah, the F-16s came in during wartime, so it's not like they had the advantage of being able to build this infrastructure out ahead of time. And really, it kind of showcases the work smart, not hard kind of mentality

Ukrainians have a manpower problem and these vehicles allow them to resupply an F-16 with like three guys instead of 10 to 12 guys

So makes things a whole lot easier on the ground crews. Like you said, able to kind of bounce around

Obviously, the Air Force, the U.S. Air Force is probably looking at some of these lessons because, you know

what Ukrainian is, what the Ukrainians are doing now in real time could be kind of what the rest of Europe might have to end up doing down the road

Absolutely. It's just another case in, you know, of lessons learned and, you know, being able to kind of observe what they're, what they're doing and thinking about how our nation's defense, how we can apply that to, to what our plans are going forward

You bet. You bet. All right, let's go ahead and hit the next one. Oh, hold on. Oh, that's two

You bet. You said you bet. That's two for the jar. All right. You can Venmo me

All right. Checks in the mail, Brett. Next up, in late July, Iran claimed they warned a U.S. Navy destroyer to change its course while it was cruising near their waters

Iranian state media even released a video showcasing the USS Fitzgerald, a guided missile destroyer, on the clip

You can hear a crew member warning the Fitzgerald that it was getting too close to Iranian territorial waters

When asked about the incident, the U.S. defense official told Reuters that the incident had, quote

no impact on the destroyer and suggested that any claims to the contrary were just Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps trying to spread misinformation

Brett you probably have a little bit more experience in this realm as an Air Force veteran but an Iranian helicopter probably poses little threat if anything to a U destroyer

This is like the international example of, he'll be back, bro. You know, flexing some puffery, not really bringing much of a threat

I'm like, OK, we're close to your waters. Are we in your waters? No. No

So what are you going to do? Yeah. Yeah, I think this is just Iran needing something to flex about and let their folks know, hey, we're out here, we're keeping it tight

When in reality, you know, this is just kind of like a very amusing anecdote probably for the guys on that ship, the guys and gals on that ship

So, yeah, hold me back, bro. Right, right. Yeah, I was doing a little bit of research on this story, and the Iranians had told, they said that they told the U.S. naval destroyer, like, hey, we got the backing of the Iranian air defenses, which at this point means almost nothing

The Israelis and the U.S. have just decimated Iranian air defenses. So a backing of a paper tiger, ooh, scary, scary

Yeah, so like you said, hold me back, bro. All right. And last up, last September, we reported that Air Force Chief of Staff General David Alvin announced the Air Force was dusting off the old reforger, a.k.a. return of forces to Germany exercise and taking it to the Pacific, calling it refor pack

Well, it's happening right now as we're recording this segment. It's due to end August 8th. According to Air Force officials, Resolute Force Pacific involves more than 400 aircraft and over 12,000 personnel across more than 50 locations spanning 3,000 miles

Over the years, there have been various exercises in the Pacific, but nothing quite on this scale, Brett

No, I think this is a great thing. You know, my time in the Air Force was experienced as the wall was coming down, as the East was

opened up. So Reforger was something that kind of fell into the backside

But in its day, it was a big deal. It was a big, massive military movement because that's where we thought the next conflict

was going to be. I think this is a great idea because there's, you know, only so many troops that are going

to be positioned in the Pacific Air Force at any one time. So if you get this kind of exercise going with not only the troops that are going to be headed there, but also your allies and having that interoperability, that experience of working together, I think that's a big deal

So I think it's kind of a great idea to dust off this concept and bring it back and make it new again for what looks to be wherever the next area of concern is for our national defense

You bet. Yeah, you know, the REFORPAC is obviously an Air Force exercise

uh later on um in august there's the large-scale exercise is what the uh navy and marines call their

kind of large-scale exercise uh and it's going to be a global event uh and doing a lot of the

same thing that uh i've got an email uh doing a lot of the same thing that reform pack is doing

with air force but doing it with naval and uh marine forces kind of with allies all over the

globe. Uh, so yeah, the, any, any kind of interoperability exercises the U S can do ahead

of a potential conflict with China just makes things go that much smoother when the feces hits

the oscillator as my dad used to say. All right, Brett, uh, really thank you for, uh, joining us

once again. And, uh, I think, uh, there's what two you bets or three you bets by the end of it

Uh, yeah, I think you had a, you had a secondary you bet. So yeah, we'll just keep it running total

All right. And then at the end of the year, I guess we'll decide what kind of charity we'll donate all that money that I owe you

There you go. Something like that. Thanks, Brett. You bet. All right, folks

We talk a lot on the show about how to get resupply to soldiers, sailors, marines on the tactical edge

And, you know, things break. So what do you do when you're out on an island, maybe somewhere in the Pacific, and you need some more parts

And, you know, Ace Hardware is not exactly down the street. Well, joining me now for our Weapon of the Week this week is Bruce Lemaster with Obsidian Solutions Group

Bruce, thank you so much for joining us today. Sure, Ryan. So we are talking about your trailer that you have set up here

It's all about getting resupply to folks at the tactical edge with 3D and adaptive printing

Walk me through it. So we hear this all the time. The folks on the front line, the expeditionary folks, they want capability to print parts in theater

But no one to date has really come up with a definitive answer of how that should happen

So we put together a concept. We got a pop tent here essentially from HDT Global This is their X this this unit breaks down into a small trailer size unit that can be carried by an Osprey taken right out to the front lines dropped on site

We pop the top up here, co-op the front door, and we can put printers in here

In this situation, we've brought two resin-based printers, our Zip Pro, our Zip desktop printers

and we've also added the Farrow Arm, which is a reverse engineering inspection

slash scanning device. So if something breaks in the field, we can reverse engineer it

enter it into our CAD data, dump that CAD data to our printers. We can print the parts in theaters, and within a few hours

we could have replacement handles, replacement fixtures, whatever speed is on the polymer side of things

We need metal. We can substitute one of these resin-based printers. We can put a directed energy deposition-type metal printer in here

So there are many options. We're just trying to push the issue and say, hey, we have options

Let's get together and tell us what you really need on the front line. We can configure this and make it happen

Absolutely. You know, Bruce, palletized options is such a big thing, and that seems like this is essentially like a palletized 3D printer

that you're providing the military. Yeah, so there are some options out there. Other folks are doing Connex boxes with big units

This is a much smaller unit, so more transportable. We can't get the big powder bed based metal printers in here, so we can certainly do resin printers, extrusion based printers

We can do the subjected energy deposition. So there are plenty of options here

We just we're trying to force the issue and get them to commit and say, yes, that's what we need on the front line

We'll configure it and we'll put it out there. Bruce, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate your time

Appreciate it. Over the past year, we've talked a lot about America's need for more shipbuilding

and the Navy's growing list of maintenance needs on their current fleet

So it's only fair to recognize positive developments in that arena as well

It's time for comms check. Say hello to the U.S. Navy's newest ride, the USS Pier

At 418 feet long and a price tag of $600 million, the pier is the last of the independence-class littoral combat ships to be delivered by Austal USA

This wraps up a controversial chapter in naval shipbuilding, as the LCS program had its fair share of issues

According to a 2021 Government Accountability Office report, some of those problems include, but are not limited to

design flaws, hole cracks, and propulsion problems that significantly affected the ship's readiness

While the Independence-class LCSs were intended to be versatile enough to handle a variety of missions

high maintenance costs and a heavy reliance on outside contractors have made things challenging

Still, lessons learned from the LCS program will definitely shape the new Constellation-class frigates coming down the pipeline

So while the LCS has a bit of a mixed legacy, it's a reminder of both ambitious goals and the bumps along the way

So what's next for the USS Pier? Following commissioning later this fall, the ship will head to its new home port in San Diego

supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence in key operational theaters

all opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors

all right all right all right that's going to just about do it for us this week at weapons and

warfare thanks for hitting play go ahead and like and subscribe to our social media feeds and share

our stories with your friends while you're at it our mission at the show is to help average

citizens understand why their government spends so much on national defense and you can help us

accomplish that with just a few clicks. For my wrap this week, I guess my thoughts can be summed

up best with the old saying, better late than never. When President Donald Trump was on the

campaign trail before taking office again, he often criticized his predecessor for allowing the

war in Ukraine to happen. President Trump said the war never would have happened on his watch

because Putin would have listened to Trump and not invaded. During his first few months in office

as President Trump again leaned on his relationship with the Russian leader during negotiations

thinking that would be enough to stop the fighting. But it wasn't enough then, and it's not enough now

Vladimir Putin is on a mission to rebuild the Russian empire, and there doesn't seem to be enough diplomacy in the world to appease him

And it seems President Trump is finally coming around to that truth

If you're a fan of the show, you've heard me say, I think we need to help Ukraine defend itself

You've heard me be critical of the current and past administrations when weapon shipments were insufficient, slow, or just outright ceased

Now, I'm celebrating the White House's current stance on the Russian-Ukraine war

Trump is selling weapons and ammo to Ukraine, and Washington shortened the window that Moscow has to reach a deal

I'm not sure what exactly happens when that window closes, but if Trump's handling of the Iran negotiations are any indication

Moscow may want to strike a deal while there's still leaders left to do so

Better late than never. Senior producer Brett Baker, motion artist Dakota Patio

and video editor Emma Stultzfus, who is helping us out this week

Thank you so much, Emma. I'm Ryan Robertson for Straight Arrow News, signing off