Inside the Capabilities of Textron’s ISR/Light-Attack AT-6E Wolverine

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Inside the Capabilities of Textron’s ISR/Light-Attack AT-6E Wolverine
07/09/2020

By Todd Miller

As has been widely reported, the conclusion of the Light Attack Experiment (LAE) resulted in orders for only a couple each of Sierra Nevada/Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucanos and Textron Aviation Defense’s Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverines.

However, the USAF decision to be the launch customer of the AT-6E — AT-6“E” is the formal USAF designation — is a significant takeaway for Textron. The USAF acquisition of the AT-6E aircraft clears the path for foreign adoption of the platform through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program as well as via Direct Commercial Sales (DCS). In any case, the AT-6E’s successful completion of both Light Attack Experiment (LAE) Phases I & II — including a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) and austere field landing demonstrations – makes it a compelling addition to the export market.

Per Textron Aviation Defense, the AT-6E is an adaptable, sustainable and affordable platform capable of operations in austere environments with close air support (CAS), armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), strike coordination and reconnaissance (SCAR), forward air control (airborne)  (FAC(A)) and insertion/extraction escort missions.  I am fortunate to get the opportunity to experience what that “looks like.”

Out on the ramp of the civilian airfield, the AT-6E looks at home. Sized right with an efficient 4-bladed prop, it blends into the line of general aviation aircraft — in the same way a purpose-built racecar blends into a parking lot of passenger cars. As you get closer, the nature of the AT-6E is clear. The snarl gracing the 1600 shp Pratt & Whitney powered turboprop screams bite. The snarl is backed up by LAU-131 rocket pods and external fuel tanks hanging from four of the aircraft’s seven hardpoints (one occupied by the Wescam L3 MX-15D EO/IR Sensor). High visibility tandem seating, heads up display and zero-zero Martin Baker ejection seats leave no doubt — the AT-6E offers more than the standard turboprop’s “business proposition.”

My attention is drawn to Textron Aviation Defense’s Cessna Grand Caravan parked nearby. It is noted that the Grand Caravan has been configured to transport an additional inventory of ordnance for the AT-6E because all customer aircraft demos and flight reviews are conducted with mission-representative weapons load outs. The message is loud and clear. A handful of correctly configured aircraft (AT-6E and Grand Caravan) could readily and discretely deploy to a local general aviation field, a very private austere airstrip or even a suitable field. With just a handful of ground personnel, the platforms are more than capable to deploy lethal ISR/COIN/Precision Attack.  I briefly ponder that the airfield launch today could as easily take place from a field in the dark of night in proximity to an area of interest.

I am fortunate to fly with USAF Col. Tom “Gumby” Webster (Ret.), the Regional Director of Textron Aviation Defense aircraft sales for Asia-Pacific. With 3,000 hours in F-16s, Webster is a COIN/CAS/Precision Attack expert. An honor graduate of the USAF Weapons school, Webster spent significant career time working closely with Army command addressing the airborne, ground (JTAC) and C2 aspects of the CAS mission. On the ground, in the air — weapons on target, danger close — Webster is our man.

The airspace available for the demonstration flight limits our speed to 250 knots and altitude up to 12,000 ft. Not what one would generally experience over hostile area — but certainly more than enough to experience the AT-6E in action. Briefing is expansive as Webster orients me to the Wolverine’s CMC glass cockpit with three multi-function displays, the F-16-derived HOTAS, A-10C mission computer, ejection seat procedures, flight controls and environmental systems. The aircraft features an impressive array of communication capabilities with ARC-210 radios/VHF/UHF/AES Encryption/SATCOM/Iridium Cell Satellite/AERONet/Full motion rover video/GPS precision approach and more.

Following a brief ramp hold, Webster pushes the throttles forward and we are quickly airborne and climbing. The unobstructed visibility strikes me as we bank across the terrain below. While en route, Webster demonstrates navigation aids (i.e., steer points, mission points, etc.) and the digital stores management systems. The inherent flexibility of the three MFDs provide a wide variety of information to enable a high level of situational awareness.

Flying the aircraft is not difficult. The AT-6E shares a high degree of commonality with the widely utilized T-6A Texan used by the USAF. Since 2001, aviators across the USAF, USN, USMC, USA and USCG have trained in the T-6. Nearly a dozen nations worldwide operate their own T-6 fleets and every year pilots from more than 40 countries graduate from T-6 training via the NATO Flight Training program in Canada, the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT) at Sheppard AFB, and the U.S. Air Force’s Aviation Leadership Program at Columbus AFB.

Not to be mistaken, the PT6A-68D featured in the AT-6E offers a significant increase in power (1600 shp vs the 1100 shp of the T-6A), structural enhancements and defensive, sensor, communications and weapons capabilities — and more. Textron’s 1,000 T-6 variants have logged more than 3.3 million flight hours worldwide across different environments. With roughly 85% commonality between the two airframes, it’s not hard to see the value of the number of airframes in the market with support from Textron’s global service network.

The AT-6E proved its ability to utilize the Air Force-developed Airborne Extensible Relay Over-the-Horizon Network known as AEROnet during the Light Attack experiment. This air-to-air and air-to-ground radio system ensures interoperability, enabling militaries to share video, voice and chat communications and empowering them with command and control. None of this is particularly surprising given Textron’s expertise with ISR systems integration on platforms like the MC-12, Scorpion and others.

Within 25 minutes of flying we arrive at our designated area of interest. Thoughts of survivability come to mind as we provide overwatch in permissive airspace (airspace free of hostile airpower and/or sophisticated integrated air defense systems (IADS)). Webster tells me that a combination of tactics, the low heat signature of the turboprop, the AT-6E’s self-protection systems (ALQ-213, AAR-47), and the airplane’s fully aerobatic maneuverability, even when carrying external stores, provide a high degree of survivability – much higher than most anticipate.

In the air, one can anticipate the AT-6E will feed streaming video and ISR data from the aircraft to ground operators (military or civilian), providing high situational awareness with immediate air support overhead. Comms crackle, Webster relays target information. The MX-15 is slaved to the target and marked for what will unfold as a series of punishing attacks. Target confirmed and engagement authority received.

No more idle banter about the platform, Webster’s demeanor shifts as he prepares to unleash a finely honed choreography of tactics. Unguided 2.75 Hydra rockets selected and armed. Webster comes off a turn and rolls the Wolverine in on target —with the sun at our back. The nose drops to the optimal attack attitude and throttles are adjusted. Webster aligns the weapons delivery cues on the target — and the sticks fly. The computer tallies the number of rockets on target, we execute a 2-3G pullout and climb back to altitude. Webster indicates that the attack profiles and weapons runs are like those flown in fast jets. The 300+ knots of the AT-6E ensure more time on the attack run and result in a mildly lower kinetic energy of the ordnance than that of 4th or 5th generation fighters. The outcome is the same — target neutralized — but, in this case, at a fraction of the cost of high-end fighters.

The AT-6E handles predictably throughout the flight. I am somewhat surprised that the AT-6E maintains a solid roll rate and g capability, even when carrying significant stores. The lower cruise and loiter speeds mean a 4-6.5 G maneuver changes the aircraft’s direction quickly. The straightforward handling characteristics allow Webster and I to focus on the issue at hand —the next weapons run.

With the ease of a combat veteran at home in his environment and at one with his aircraft, Webster demonstrates various attack profiles utilized by the variety of weapons available on the AT-6E — guided rockets, unguided bombs, a Hellfire (AGM-114) launch, guns. Like your favorite video platform, the AT-6E unleashes its fury as if with unlimited ordnance. I have little trouble imagining the target below reduced to a smoldering hole in the ground – and I reach to increase the oxygen and airflow.

In a continuous, fluid series of attacks — with no rest for the target — Webster rolls in immediately for a diving strafe pass. I imagine the .50 cal HMP-400 buzzing as shells fill the air. Imagery from Webster’s heads-up display (HUD) is projected on one of my MFDs so I can follow the execution of the attack. The computer scores the hit count, shells on target with kinetic effects left to my imagination.

Pilots understand the challenges of hitting small moving targets with gun attacks that put an attacking aircraft near the ground and potentially deadly return fire in the form of SMARMS and MANPADS. Much preferred, perhaps, an attack with precision munitions from the relative safety of distance and altitude. Precision attack typically means targets never see it coming and collateral damage is limited. The AT-6E has the flexibility to move seamlessly between scenarios, perform capably in challenging environments all while providing effective protection for the warfighter’s time in harm’s way.

Webster offers up the controls and I roll the aircraft in on target for a gun attack. The AT-6E is stable and easy to fly — but I am challenged to put shells on target. A true gentleman, Webster has kind words. With nothing more to prove, we level at altitude and move back to overwatch.

‘Comms crackle’ and we fly west to surveille another location. During the few moments of transit, I consider the scenario. With no IADS to confront, we operate with relative impunity. In the case where hostile air could threaten, the unseen but present CAP of very effective F-15s/F-16s/FA-18s and stealthy F-35s/F-22s provides cover.

The situation on the ground becomes clear, a violent extremist group is meeting in the target building identified below. At altitude and approaching from over a mountainous ridge, the targeted remain unaware of their immediate danger. We release a 500-lb. enhanced Paveway II GPS/laser guided bomb (GBU-49). Webster rolls the aircraft to maintain eyes on target for weapons impact. Despite the assurance of a low heat signature and effective defensive systems, my eyes scan the ground for movement, a hostile that steps out from the shadow of a tree, a flash indicating a MANPADS launch … nothing.

The HUD counts down, 3, 2, 1… Good Hit. I imagine a dark cloud billowing from the target. Within seconds a handful of insurgents emerge from the debris and attempt to make their escape. With authority, Webster pulls on the control stick. The 4G turn seems to literally spin the Wolverine 180 degrees on its wingtip and within seconds we roll in on the remaining insurgents. In real time, targets neutralized.

The aircraft settles into cruise at altitude as we activate navigation aids and head to a nearby field for a simulated instrument approach, and then back to point of origin. Upon landing, the AT-6E indicated about 750 lbs of fuel burned. That is an impressively low fuel burn considering ground run, taxi, ramp hold and 1 hour and 45 minutes in the air below 12,000 ft.

While the aircraft clearly has an alternate flight window to a jet attack aircraft, it is at home in the prescribed environment and on task. The AT-6E Wolverine’s mature systems (ISR/Communications/Weapons/Self-protection) clearly establish that it is a fully militarized attack aircraft — light. With the capability to operate from austere environments, the AT-6E adds tremendous operational flexibility for both military and/or civilian authorities.

I require no further convincing. This Wolverine is capable and — in the right hands — lethal. As I walk across the ramp, I turn to take a final look at the AT-6E. There is no need to wipe the snarl off that face, it belongs right where it is.

The author expresses gratitude to the team at Textron Aviation Defense, specifically to USAF Col. Tom “Gumby” Webster (Ret.), and Sylvia Pierson, Director of Communications. An exceptional team of professionals across the board. No austere operations took place during this flight. Images of austere operations courtesy Textron Aviation Defense – Greg L. Davis or as noted.

Textron's AT-6E refueling and rearming at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP).
Textron AT-6E flying ISR/COIN while configured with MX-15, Guns, Paveway & Rockets.
A pair of AT-6Es armed and operational in an austere location
Textron AT-6E Wolverine flies with NX-15, guns, 2.75" rockets & fuel.
A Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine turboprop conducts austere runway operations from the Ft. Stockton-Pecos County Airport on March 31, 2020. The deployment of the ISR/Precision Attack aircraft, which wears an appropriate desert camouflage paint-scheme, demonstrated aircraft performance at a desert airfield with a field elevation of 3,011 ft. MSL. The six-person team from Textron Aviation Defense conducted deployed operations in seasonal temperatures and across an array of weights and aircraft configurations. (Textron Aviation Defense photo/Greg L. Davis)
A Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine turboprop conducts austere runway operations from the Ft. Stockton-Pecos County Airport on April, 2020. The deployment of the aircraft, which wears an appropriate desert camouflage paint-scheme, demonstrated aircraft performance at a desert airfield with a field elevation of 3,011 ft. MSL. The six-person team from Textron Aviation Defense conducted deployed operations in seasonal temperatures and across an array of weights and aircraft configurations. (Textron Aviation Defense photo/Greg L. Davis)
Attitude, by the Textron Aviation Defense-Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine.
The waking of the AT-6E Wolverine
In the Cockpit of the Textron AT-6E Wolverine on the way to experience ISR with some "precision attack" attitude.
The AT-6E Wolverine offers an exceptional visibility for ISR, CAS, COIN and Light Attack missions.
AT-6E Wolverine displays Wescam MX-15D, Auxiliary fuel and LAU-131 Hydra Rocket pods.
Textron's AT-6E Wolverine exemplifies straightforward pre-flight preparation easily handled in field by a couple sets of hands.
USAF Col. Tom “Gumby” Webster (Ret.) and ground crew wrap up pre-flight checks on Textron Aviation Defense - Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine.
Textron - Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine Rolling in on a simulated attack. Survellience COIN/CAS/ISR/Precision attack.
Textron Aviation Defense Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine waits on ramp with anticpation.
Textron Aviation Defense Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine showing some morning attitude prior to simulated COIN Mission
Textron AT-6 Wolverine engine run and systems checks prior to launch on ISR/COIN/Precision Attack Mission
Textron Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine glows in the early morning light - at the ready for ISR/COIN/FAC/CAS.
Textron Aviation Defense AT-6E Wolverine sits alongside the T-6A Texan II Trainer utilized by the USAF and numerous other nations.
Banking after take off in the Textron Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine with an unparalleled vantage point.

Visiting the Seahawk Weapons School: Insights in the Way Ahead for the Fleet

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Visiting the Seahawk Weapons School: Insights in the Way Ahead for the Fleet
07/08/2020

By Robbin Laird

Living Inside the Beltway, one would clearly miss how to understand how the Romeo helicopter, a variant of the Seahawk helicopter, in expanding the envelope of fleet defense, was itself part of how one might reconsider the way ahead for the fleet.

The Romeo is the successor of the Bravo variant of the Seahawk.

An Australian article published in 2017 at the time of the Avalon Air Show highlighted the transition:

The Navy’s Sikorsky S70-B2 Seahawk – known as the ‘Bravo’ – is winding down operations. Its replacement is the modern, fifth generation MRH-60 Seahawk ‘Romeo’.

Both helicopters are on display at the Avalon – the new Romeo will be flying, while the older Bravo is on static display.

Lieutenant Luke Mein, an instructor, has been inundated with questions about the Bravo while manning the stand at Avalon.

“The Bravo had always been a capable workhorse, but the new Romeo is a quantum leap forward in terms of warfighting capability,” Lieutenant Mein said.

“Navy has placed a heavy focus on a strategic planning cycle to make sure assets were replaced in a timely fashion,” he said.

Petty Officer Aircrew Jason Wikman is also a Bravo instructor who is at Avalon this week assisting at the Navy display.

“She might be an aging helicopter but people are still very interested to know all about her,” Petty Officer Wikman said.

“As an instructor I believe the training involved to the transition from the Bravo to Romeo has delivered a skilled and flexible aviation workforce to the Navy,” he said.

Lieutenant Mein and Petty Officer Wikman are among about a dozen Navy aviators who are still flying the Seahawk Bravo. Both will transition to the new Romeo variant.

Navy has purchased 24 of the Romeos, which are now in-service operating out of 725 and 816 Squadrons at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, New South Wales.

The primary mission of the Romeo helicopter is anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare. Secondary roles include search and rescue, logistics support, personnel transport and medical evacuation.

With a twin turboshaft engine, the Seahawk is based on the US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk design. It is able to deploy from a range of surface ships.

The Seahawk boasts an impressive pedigree, and has been exported from the United States to serve with various armed forces around the world.

From a platform perspective, the shift from the Bravo to the Romeo is one which brings significant upgrades in terms of sensor and data processing capabilities.

Navy Recognition describes the Romeo systems as follows:

The MH-60R avionics includes dual controls and instead of the complex array of dials and gauges in Bravo and Foxtrot aircraft, 4 fully integrated 8″ x 10″ night vision goggle-compatible and sunlight-readable color multi-function displays, all part of glass cockpit produced by Owego Helo Systems division of Lockheed Martin.

The Lockheed Martin Common Cockpit™ enables MH-60R and MH-60S aircrews to perform diverse missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, combat search and rescue, vertical replenishment, and airborne mine countermeasures.

Onboard sensors include: AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System by ATK, Raytheon AN/AAS-44 electro-optical system that integrates FLIR and laser rangefinder AN/ALE-39 decoy dispenser and AN/ALQ-144 infrared jammer by BAE Systems, AN/ALQ-210 electronic support measures system by Lockheed Martin, AN/APS-147 multi-mode radar/IFF interrogator, which during a mid-life technology insertion project is subsequently replaced by AN/APS-153 Multi-Mode Radar with Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination (ARPDD) capability, and both radars were developed by Telephonics, a more advanced AN/AQS-22 advanced airborne low-frequency sonar (ALFS) jointly developed by Raytheon & Thales, AN/ARC-210 voice radio by Rockwell Collins, an advanced airborne fleet data link AN/SRQ-4 Hawklink with radio terminal set AN/ARQ-59 radio terminal, both by L3Harris, and LN-100G dual-embedded global positioning system and inertial navigation system by Northrop Grumman Litton division.

For naval combat missions, the MH_60R can be armed with AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles to perform anti-surface warfare missions. It can be also armed with ATK mk50 or mk46 active/passive lightweight torpedoes to conduct anti-submarine warfare. Fort its self-defense, the MH-60R is equipped with pintle-mounted 7.62mm machine gun.

But if one visits the Seahawk Weapons School, Atlantic, with a kill web-oriented P-8 WTI instructor, the aperture opens up considerably with regard to thinking about the integrability context and what the impact of the platform in a broader, “no platform fights alone context, might mean.

During my visit to Jax Navy and Mayport during the week of June 14, 2020, I visited the Helicopter Sea Combat Weapons School Atlantic with my host, Lt.  Lt. Jonathan Gosselin, a P-8 Weapons and Tactics Instructor at the Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Weapons School.

I had a chance while visiting Mayport to talk with Colin Price, who is the Weapons School Standardization Officer responsible for working to shape and support TTP standardization within the fleet.

He is also a next generation officer so to speak in that he is neither a Cold Warrior nor a land warrior.

He has come to the fleet, when the focus is clearly upon the new strategic environment and dealing with the new world of surface and anti-submarine warfare, and within the extended battlespace in the sea-air domain.

He has been posted to Japan where he worked the Romeo with the new Naval assets which came to Japan, the new generation Hawkeye and the F-35. With regard to the new generation Hawkeye,

Price underscored how important cross learning in the flight line is for tapping into the potential for a new platform and sharing knowledge of how your platform might contribute to the success of the new platform, notably with an integratability focus.

With regard to the F-35, the Marines had brought the F-35 Bravo to Japan, and the Romeo squadron flew down to their base and engaged in cross learning.  As Price put it: “It is important to open communication with the operators of a new platform, to have the kind of cross-learning which can shape more effective concepts of operations, and to get the full combat capability from your platform and the new one.”

With regard to getting better value out of the Romeo, Price pointed out that the AN/ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measures System on the Romeo can contribute significantly to EW combat as well, and the Romeo community has recently increased its focus on improving their capabilities with regard to this mission set.

As the focus shifts to distributed EW in the force, and away from a primary reliance on a specialized EW platform, then learning how to tap into an integrated EW capability distributed within the force is a key task, one to which the Romeo community can contribute to significantly.

To do so, will require shaping the kind of architecture which can more effectively network EW capabilities across the fleet.

But the Romeo can provide a significant contribution here, notably when ships are operating in congested waters or close in transit points where fast jets are of more limited value in the EW role.

The basic function of the Romeo is to provide the “Paul Revere” role for the fleet.

The Romeo’s systems are critical ones for closer in support to the fleet, given the ability of its dipping sonar when combined with the processing power onboard the aircraft to provide rapid warning to the fleet of impeding threats.

As the US Navy works to shape an interactive kill web force, a key challenge will be to more effectively manage what integratable sensor networks can deliver to the fleet and to the force. Lt. Gosselin put the challenge in a particularly clear fashion.

Lt. Price argued that when working a Romeo with a P-8, for example, it is important to be able to share track data for a dynamic targeting solution, and especially so, if that track data would be used by a third party to deliver the targeting solution.

Lt. Gosselin underscored that the challenge can be seen as one of layering and sequencing. “How do we layer most effectively our sensors to the point where we get the best quality of target tracks?”

With regard to sequencing: “How do we sequence most effectively so that we can maintain a consistent track over a long period of time?”

This might be seen as a tactical challenge but it is clearly one which delivers strategic consequences, notably in terms of determining which targets are the ones which the commander wants to prosecute, and which ones he does not.

It is clear that this is a kill web approach being forged at the source.

In this case, it is the P-8 and Romeo communities working to sort through how to work more effectively as an integrated capability for the offensive-defensive enterprise which the Navy needs to deliver in the peer fight and operating in the extended battlespace.

LT Colin Price

Qualified as a Seahawk Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) on May 1st, 2018. Previously he served with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 77 (HSM-77) and Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5) with Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) Japan from 2015-2018, completing 6 deployments embarked on the USS George Washington (CVN-73), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and the USS Chancellorsville (CG-62).

He currently serves as the Air Combat Training Continuum Program Manager for the MH-60R Atlantic Wing. To execute these duties Lt. Price standardizes syllabi, update qualification programs, and routinely inspect squadrons and evaluate aircrew across the Wing to ensure tactical excellence and compliance with tactics, techniques and procedures.

He recently served as the Helicopter Advanced Readiness Program (HARP) Officer. As HARP Officer, he led, planned and organized the HARP syllabus of instruction, which is required for squadrons to complete during the basic phase of the pre-deployment workup cycle. It includes an academic, simulator, and flight phase, where MH-60R combat crews learn and demonstrate the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures before deployment.

He also serves as the Night Systems Program Manager for the MH-60R Atlantic Wing. To execute these duties, Lt. Price writes the syllabus for night tactical formation flight, instructs and evaluate pilots and aircrew in the night environment, and inspects squadrons to ensure proper documentation of qualifications.

The featured photo: PACIFIC OCEAN (May 31, 2018)

An MH-60 Romeo, assigned to HSM-49 “Scorpions”, performs deck-landing qualifications on the flight deck of Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) during a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX). COMPTUEX is the final pre-deployment exercise which certifies the combined Essex Amphibious Ready Group and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s abilities to conduct military operations at sea and project power ashore during their upcoming deployment in summer of 2018.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Seaman Julian Davis/Released)

For a look at distributed EW and approaches to achieve it, see the report on the The Williams Foundation seminar which dealt with this subject and was held on August 23, 2017:

 

24th MEU Sustainment Training

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on 24th MEU Sustainment Training

Marines assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Sailors assigned to the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG) execute various training evolutions May 13, 2020.

The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group with embarked 26th MEU are conducting non-live fire and live-fire routine sustainment training in the United Arab Emirates to enhance critical mission sets for the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps team operating within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Gary Jayne III).

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

05.13.2020

Video by Cpl. Gary Jayne III

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit

The Standing Up of TOCRON-11: The Next Step in Building Out Kill Web Infrastructure

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on The Standing Up of TOCRON-11: The Next Step in Building Out Kill Web Infrastructure
07/07/2020

By Robbin Laird

For some, the shift from using kill web instead of the kill chain is a variant of wordsmithing.

But it is not.

I have worked on fifth generation aircraft since the mid-2000s and certainly understood what an impact a data rich aircraft flying as a fleet would make with the coming of the F-35. I also understood that if the infrastructure to manage data, and to exploit data much more effectively and rapidly, that the impact of the new generation of aircraft would be limited.

I also have argued that fifth generation aircraft was leading to the “renorming of airpower,” and not the end point of transformation.

But what this new generation of aircraft posed along with their being built around software upgradeability was a significant challenge to rethink the ISR/C2 dynamic and to build out an infrastructure which allows for the platforms operating within interactive kill webs to deliver combat effects throughout the extended battlespace.

For the P8/Triton community, what this has meant that after managing the initial P-8 transition and now adding the Triton in its early phases of contribution is that infrastructure is changing as well to find ways to better exploit the new platform capabilities.

The problem is that if one focuses on the pictures of the aircraft – whether P-8 or Triton – one is looking at a snapshot of a part of the kill web enterprise but missing in many ways the most significant aspect which is the evolving infrastructure. The infrastructure is not as dramatic as watching a plane take off or land but it is the enabler for the kill web enterprise.

In the case of the P-8, a squadron deploys with at Mobile Tactical Operations Center.  These centers support the P-8s by managing data and air tasking orders.

As this story published on October 7, 2019 about the return of a P-8 squadron highlights the role of the paring of P-8s and MTOCs.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The “Fighting Tigers” of Patrol Squadron EIGHT (VP-8) and the “Dog Pound” of Mobile Tactical Operation Center SEVEN (MTOC-7) have returned to Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville after a successful six month deployment to the 4th and 7th Fleet Areas of Responsibility (AOR).

While deployed, the Fighting Tigers and Dog Pound operated from three deployment sites in the Philippines, Japan, and El Salvador, where they provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and conducted anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to advance U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Pacific Command lines of operation.

The VP-8/MTOC-7 team is attached to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN, and was one of several MPRF squadrons assigned to Commander, Task Force 72 for the last six months. VP-8 is led by Commanding Officer Cmdr. Rodney Erler, and consists of 300 personnel and seven P-8A Poseidon aircraft. MTOC-7 is led by Officer in Charge Lt. Taylor Cannon, and consist of 21 personnel providing media support, mission construction, and safety of flight following for all VP-8 missions.

The sleek P-8s look cool; but what an MTOC (as seen in the featured photo) looks like does not.

But guess what?

Without the less cool MTOC, the effectiveness of the P-8 squadrons is reduced significantly.

The infrastructure engagement is a key driver of the way ahead for the maritime patrol reconnaissance enterprise in playing its proper role within a kill web force. And since the initial P-8 deployments and the coming of the Triton, the US Navy has changed two key aspects of the infrastructure.

The first is the establishment of the MISR officer who is the link between the carrier strike group and the non-organic assets which are both supporting and supported assets for the carrier strike group.

And the second is the current standing up of two TOCRONs for the maritime patrol reconnaissance enterprise. Not surprisingly, the TOCRONS are evolving from the MTOC experience, but are being stood up as a recognition that the data management side of the enterprise is at least on equally footing with the flying side of the enterprise.

The MISR officers are the connectivity tissue between the TOCRONS and the carrier strike group as well. This will be a two-way street as tasking coming from MISR officers will be shaped in part with regard to the kind and quality of information which the TOPCRONS can provide as well.

As I noted in an earlier article about the standing up of TOCRON -11 at Jax Navy:

Tactical Operations Control Squadron (TOCRON) ELEVEN as part of the Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing as well. This command is operational this month and is the latest member of CPRW-11.

The squadron is tasked with data support and management for CPRW-11. They are tasked with imaging all of the fleet’s mission systems hard drives, and data with regard to software, mission planning and the flight profiles of the fleet. 

They are the key enabler to maritime patrol’s Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (TCPED) process, which helps drive the intelligence analysis cycle.

With the increase in mission system’s capability and increasing integration into the joint kill web, the MPRA community clearly relies on TOCRON with a P-8 enabled MPA force.

During my visit to Jax Navy the week of June 14th, I had a chance to discuss with the TOCRON -11 leadership the role of the squadron. I met with CDR Donte’ Jackson and LCDR Heriberto Cruz, both experienced officers in the MPA community and with regard to the working relationship between P-8 and MTOC squadrons.

A key point made by the officers was the importance of socializing the value of the kind of data which the MTOC, MISR and MPA communities could bring to the fleet.

As CDR Jackson underscored: “Sometimes we get caught up in the new systems and what they can do and neglect the core function of leading the sailors who will use the capabilities which the new systems can deliver to the fleet.”

He sees this as one function of what the TOCRON squadrons could bring to the Navy.

Mission support in terms of what the data providers bring to the fight is crucial to shaping an effective way ahead, and certainly in terms of what a kill web approach can do to empower the fleet.

But being data providers does not have the cache of being a Top Gun pilot, but as the data providers become more crucial, a process of change is underway.

The officers underscored that there is significant generational change underway that intersects with the evolving role of the MPA community.

On the one hand, “Sailors are well versed in ASW, ISR and C2,” not just classic ASW functions in the MPA community.

On the other hand, “the new generation of Sailors is able to multi-task much more effectively than the older generations. And the new generation functions better when they gain a grasp of the whole within which their basic task is performed.”

Thus, the officers argued that there was basic synergy between the evolving technology and the capabilities of the new generation of Sailors.

And they see the TOCRON squadron as contributing to enhancing this process of synergy, as well.

The new face of the kill web Navy is MISR officers, TOCRON squadron members and the warfighters at the information school at NAWDC.

And the focal point of this outcome is to deliver the right information, to the right person in the right time. Learning how to fight at the speed of light is an ongoing challenge.

Adding new MISR and TOCRON capabilities to the fleet are the next steps in shaping a more effective capability to meet this challenge.

As I noted in an earlier article:

As we work through force structure change to deal with the new strategic environment, terms like C2, ISR and training are being changed significantly.

New concepts of operations are being shaped, with modifications of existing platforms to play new roles and responsibilities, and new platforms being designed to enable an integratable force.

With the crafting of an integrated distributed force able to operate through interactive kill webs, the ability and capability to shape task forces appropriate to crisis management challenge is enabled.

To do so effectively, rests upon how specific platforms can work together, which, in turn, depends in significant part on what wave forms they have onboard which enables them to work together in a crisis management environment….

When I refer to standing C2 on its head, what I mean is simply, that C2 and wave form availability is becoming a foundational element for force generation in contested combat environments, rather than simply being ways to connect platforms operating in sequential operations….

Put bluntly, C2 systems are no longer commodities added platform by platform; they are the operating infrastructure within which platforms find their role within a scalable, tailorable combat force. 

OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Feb. 10, 2018) Navy Reserve and Active Duty Sailors from Mobile Tactical Operations Center (MTOC) disassemble and relocate a tent during a training evolution to prepare for support to Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 2018. All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been formally invited to RIMPAC 2018, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dugan Flynn/Released)
OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Feb. 10, 2018) Electronics Technician 1st Class Christopher McCain, with Mobile Tactical Operations Center (MTOC) conducts maintenance on a mobile generator during a tent training evolution to prepare for support to exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018. All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been formally invited to RIMPAC 2018, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dugan Flynn/Released)
OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Feb. 10, 2018) Navy Reserve and Active Duty Sailors from Mobile Tactical Operations Center (MTOC) assemble and test communication systems during a tent training evolution to prepare for support to exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018. All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been formally invited to RIMPAC 2018, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dugan Flynn/Released)
OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Feb. 10, 2018) Information Systems Technician Seaman Apprentice Miranda Garcia, with Mobile Tactical Operations Center (MTOC), assembles and tests communication systems during a tent training evolution to prepare for support to exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018. All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been formally invited to RIMPAC 2018, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dugan Flynn/Released)

The French Air Force Prepares for Bastille Day, 2020

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on The French Air Force Prepares for Bastille Day, 2020

By Babak Taghvaee

Correspondent to the Greek publications PTISI & DIASTIMA

Preparations for the Flypasts of Bastille Day Parade

The French Ministry of Defense has planned to hold the flypasts of the Bastille Day Military Parade with 52 airplanes and 22 helicopters of French Air Force, Army Aviation and Navy Aviation, as well as the Gendarmerie Aviation and Civil Security on 14 July 2020

A rehearsal was held for formation leaders and their wingmen at BA123 in Orléans on 30 June 2020. It was the first time that such a group rehearsal was being held in BA123 due to closure of the Châteaudun Air Base where the rehearsals have always been taking place in the past until 2019.

With another rehearsal planned on July 9, the participants will be ready to take part in the military parade over the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 14.

The first rehearsal

After completion of the formation flight trainings of the flight crews in their mother bases, the first group rehearsal of the participants was held in the BA123 Orléans.  Fourteen Air Force squadrons, ten Navy Aviation Squadrons and two Combat Helicopter Regiments of the Army Aviation participated in the group rehearsal with thirty-eight airplanes including a civilian Dassault Falcon 2000LX and eight helicopters including a civilian Airbus (Eurocopter) EC225LP Super Puma of Airtelis with F-HRLI civil register on loan by the Air Force.

In addition, two Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets from 1(F)Sq (1st Fighter Squadron) of  the Royal Air Force participated in the rehearsal. During their flight to France and then their return to RAF Lossiemouth, they were both refuelled by ZZ332, an Airbus A330-243MRTT of the Royal Air Force.

All helicopters as well as the cargo airplanes together with a French Air Force’s KC-130J and two Civil Security airplanes were flown from Orléans while the nineteen fighter jets of the Air Force as well as the four Rafale Ms of the Navy participated from BA105 at Évreux. The other Air Force airplanes which were a C-135FR, a KC-135RG, two Airbus A330-243MRTTs and an E-3F, which participated from their mother bases, i.e. BA125 at Istres and BA702 at Avord.

The civilian Dassault Falcon 2000LX was flown fromB A107 at Villacoublay-Vélizy while the E-2C, Atlantique 2 and Falcon 50MS of the Navy Aviation came from Lorient. An Alpha Jet E with E107 serial and 705-UD code was used for observing the formation flights of the airplane.

Flypast of the airplanes

The first airplane which was an Air Force’s CN-235M-200 with 123 serial number and 62-IM tail code departed Orléans at 10:04 am local time. At the same time, the first fighter jet left Évreux. The last airplanes which left the BA123 at 10:16AM were Canadair CL-415 and Bombardier DHC-8-400Q MR from Securite Civile.

The participants then joined up and formed total 11 formations flights West, South and North of the air base. After the join-ups, the flypasts started from the West to the East of the air base over its runway.

19 fighter jets comprising five Rafale Cs, six Rafale Bs, a Mirage 2000C RDI, two Mirage 2000-5F, a Mirage 2000B and four Mirage 2000Ds as well as an E-3F AWACS, a C-135FR tanker, a KC-135RG tanker, two Airbus A330-243MRTT tankers, two CN-235M-200 light cargo airplanes, two Airbus A400M heavy cargo airplanes and a KC-130J tanker transport airplane were share of the air force in these flypasts.

The Navy Aviation (Aéronavale) with an E-2C AEW&C airplane, four Rafale M fighter jets, an Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Airplane and a Falcon 50MS Search and Rescue airplane, as well as a Civil Security with the CL-415 and DHC-8-400Q MR participated also to the demonstration.

Flypast of the helicopters

The helicopters which participated in the rehearsal were first flown from their mother bases to the BA123. After being refuelled and prepared for the rehearsal, their engines were started at 11:30 am and then the helicopters began taxiing toward the 25 Runway. At the same time the airplanes which had been flown from the base returned and landed on 25 RWY between 11:35 and 11:43. A Mirage 2000D, a Rafale C and a Rafale M (from the French Navy) together with the Alpha Jet E which had been used for monitoring the flypasts landed at the base.

After join-ups and line-ups at the west of the air base, the helicopters performed their flypasts over the runway between 12:05 and 12:07 am. Five of them flew solo while three of them which were from the Navy flew in formation.

The first helicopter which passed over the rehearsal area was the civilian EC225LP of Airtelis with F-HRLI civil register which had been leased by the air force to be used by two EC725R2 pilots of the 01.067 Helicopter Squadron.

The other helicopters which flew next to the F-HRLI were a NH90-TTH of the Army, an AS.555AN Fennec of the Air Force, a three-ship arrow formation of Navy helicopters consisted of a NH90-FH, a SA365F1 and an AS565SA followed by two more Army helicopters flying solo which were a Tigre HAD and a SA342M.

After the flypasts, the helicopters landed at BA123 between 12:19 and 12:23 and taxied back to the parking area and the first group rehearsal of the participants of the air parade on 14 July ended.

The second group rehearsal  is scheduled to be held over the Champs-Élysées with only the formation leaders on 9 July in-order to increase their readiness and skill for the incoming parade five days later.

The Royal Air Force and  the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) will this year again participate to the air parade, this time with a pair of Typhoon FGR4s and an Airbus A400M cargo airplane respectively.

This article was published by Operationnels on July 3, 2020.

 

Tech Warrior: iSeeYou360

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Tech Warrior: iSeeYou360
07/06/2020

iSeeYou360, a small business has developed a camera system paired to a near eye optic solution that allows the warfighter to watch their own six, remove blind spots, give full time situational awareness and allow them to be force multipliers.

This technology has a wide range of market applications: Motorcyclist, bicyclists, law enforcement, counter surveillance for FBI, or ATF, anywhere somebody needs to know what’s going on behind them.

05.13.2020

Video by Dennis Stewart

AF SBIR/STTR

VUP-19 and the Coming of Triton to the Fleet

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on VUP-19 and the Coming of Triton to the Fleet
07/05/2020

As I have argued earlier, the Triton is bringing a whole new layer to the kill web for fleet operations.

Operating at high altitude, the Triton is delivering area wide ISR data for dynamic targeting.

Indeed, one way to look at the way ahead for the integrated distributed force is to understand that new platforms are providing interactive ISR and C2 layers for a kill web approach for dynamic targeting.

Ed Timperlake and I argued in a Space News story published in 2012, that the global fleet of F-35s would provide a significant ISR/C2 layer for the joint and coalition force, which provided redundancy for the space force as well.

The ability of the deployed F-35s — again owned by allies as well as U.S. forces — presents a diversified and honeycombed presence and scalable force. This baseline force is significantly enhanced by reachback to space assets, but the space assets now receive redundancy by being complemented as well by a deployed fleet of flying combat systems. This joint capability means that the value of space-based targets goes down to the Chinese or whomever, and diversification provides significant enhancement of deterrence as well.

In short, in rethinking the way ahead with regard to military space — notably in a period of financial stringency — getting best value out of your entire warfighting enterprise is highlighted. Reorganizing the space enterprise within an overall C5ISR approach enabled by a honeycombed fleet of F-35s is a strategic opportunity of the first order.

The Triton provides another layer for a kill web-enabled force able to operate with redundancy and resiliency.

But to do so, much like learning how to use a data rich aircraft like the F-35, requires technological changes, data management changes, and cultural changes to leverage what the technology provides.

Just having the technology is clearly not enough; training and cultural change are crucial to weave what the new technology COULD do into what the force CAN do.

Clearly, the US Navy is working these challenges.

In 2013, the first Triton squadron was established.

According to the US Navy:

Unmanned Patrol Squadron ONE NINE (VUP-19) was established on October 1st 2013 and was later commissioned on October 28th 2016. As the United States Navy’s first unmanned maritime patrol squadron, VUP-19 is a team of more than 500 active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel which draws its lineage from and honors the rich history of Patrol Squadron ONE NINE (VP-19) “Big Red.” 

Established in July of 1946 as VP-907 and re-designated as VP-871 in February 1950, VP-19 finally came to be in February of 1953 and carried that name for 38 years of honorable service. In 1951, the sailors of VP-871 were called upon to participate in the Korean War and it was during this time that the squadron earned its nickname “Big Red” for their role in night interdiction missions, dropping red night illumination flares to support allied air and ground units.

As VP-19, “Big Red” participated in the Vietnam War as well as Operation DESERT STORM along with deployments to Japan, Guam, Alaska, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and countless detachments around the world. VP-19 was disestablished in August 1991, having operated the PV-2, PBY-5A/6A, P4Y-2/2S, P2V-2/3/5/7, and P-3A/B/C maritime patrol aircraft as well as earning four Navy Unit Commendations, seven Meritorious Unit Commendations, and two Battle Efficiency “E” Awards over its 45 years of distinguished service. 

Homeported at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida with a permanent detachment to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, and multiple, globally-dispersed detachment sites, VUP-19 will continue VP-19’s storied legacy and dedication to the defense of the United States by launching the US Navy’s newest Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Maritime Patrol asset, the MQ-4C Triton, to the fleet.

The Mission of Unmanned Patrol Squadron ONE NINE is the sustained, successful deployment of the MQ-4C Triton in support of Combatant and Fleet Commanders. 

When Ed Timperlake and I visited Jax Navy in 2016, we learned that the US Navy was taking a very different course than the US Air Force to working the training and operations for the Triton fleet, than the USAF has done with its remotely piloted aircraft.

We wrote in 2016:

The team at Navy Jax is building a common Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Combat Culture and treats the platforms as partner applications of the evolving combat theory. The partnership is both technology synergistic and also aircrew moving between the Triton and P-8The P-8 pilot and mission crews, after deploying with the fleet globally can volunteer to do shore duty flying Tritons.

The number of personnel to fly initially the Tritons is more than 500 navy personnel so this is hardly an unmanned aircraft. Hence, inside a technological family of systems there is also an interchangeable family of combat crews.

With the P-8 crews operating at different altitudes from the Triton, around 50K, and having operational experience with each platform, they will be able to gain mastery of both a wide scale ocean ISR and focused ASW in direct partnership with the surface navy from Carrier Strike Groups, ARG/MEUs to independent operations for both undersea and sea surface rather than simply mastering a single platform.

This is a visionary foundation for the evolution of the software upgradeable platforms they are flying as well as responding to technological advances to work the proper balance by manned crews and remotes.

During my visit to Jax Navy the week of June 14, 2020, I got a number of updates on the progress and challenges facing integrating Triton into the fleet.

One of those updates was provided by VUP-19.  I met with Lt. Samantha (Thompson) Johnson who transitioned from serving as a P-3 pilot to becoming a Triton air vehicle operator and a weapons and tactics instructor at the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Weapons School in Jacksonville.

I also met with LCDR Grant Coddington, the Intelligence Officer for the Squadron.

Rather than quoting either officer directly, I will indicate a number of takeaways I formed from the discussion and will not hold either officer responsible for any errors on my part in my learning process.

The first takeaway, one which was reinforced by other discussions during the visit, was that the Triton operation much like the first few years of P-8 operation, is in its “wheels phase.” There is much to learn about the aircraft, its operations, and the data management challenges being posed by the aircraft as well.

The second takeaway is that the learning process has clarified key aspects of the operational cycle for a Triton orbit. Typically, the squadron operates with five members on a shift: two AVOS or air vehicle operators, two MPOs or Mission Payload Operators and one TACCO or Tactical Coordinator.

The third takeaway was that the personnel coming into Triton and “learning to Triton” come from the manned collection platform side of the house, P-3, P-8 or EP-3.

The fourth takeaway is that unlike Global Hawk, which has its own dedicated pipe to deliver data, the Triton is working through the Navy’s mission data collection systems. This creates challenges in terms of how to best handle the data and how best to ensure it gets delivered to the right place at the right time.

The fifth takeaway is that as software upgradeable aircraft, one paired with the P-8, the Triton is a work in progress. And with a clear focus on informing dynamic targeting, the Triton community is clearly looking forward to coming of the next major upgrade to the mission payload on the aircraft, namely, a multi-INT capability.

The sixth takeaway is that there is clearly a cultural learning process as well. The MPA community has operated throughout its history based on a concept of operations driven by air sortie operations. The Triton is based on a multi-airplane orbit concept of operations which yields a very different data stream than one gets from an air sortied aircraft. And it is one which is layered between what the space systems deliver and what the sortied air collection platforms can deliver.

The seventh takeaway is that the flying side of the house is a work in progress. Notably, with the weather challenges in the Pacific, learning how to manage weather avoidance for a remotely piloted aircraft is a work in progress.

The eighth takeaway is that the Triton in common with other software upgradeable platforms faces the challenge of concurrency between simulators and operational platforms. The operational platform gets and upgrade earlier than the simulators, but the time lag is greater than it should be to close the concurrency gap as efficaciously as possible.

The ninth takeaway is that the Triton community is starting to build some experiential depth, the kind of depth crucial for the knowledge revolution which the Triton can bring to the fleet. And given that the Triton is engaged in tasking, collecting, processing, exploitation and dissemination of information in real time, learning how to do this for the fleet is a crucial challenge facing the future of a kill web enabled force.

And looking forward, as the Triton gains multi-INT capabilities, it will become a more effective platform to contribute to the collaborative effort where multiple sensors can be cross-referenced to provide greater fidelity on targeting, and notably when it comes to smaller vessels of interest as well.

Editor’s Note: Below are a number of Triton stories which provide further information with regard to VUP-19 as well.

U.S. Navy’s Triton Unmanned Aircraft System Arrives in 7th Fleet

January 27, 2020

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – The Navy’s first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have arrived in Guam for their initial deployment in the Pacific theater.

Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP) 19, the first Triton UAS squadron, will operate and maintain two aircraft as part of an early operational capability (EOC) to further develop the concept of operations and fleet learning associated with operating a high-altitude, long-endurance system in the maritime domain.

The Tritons forward-deployed to Guam, both of which have arrived at Andersen Air Force base as of Jan. 26, will fall under Commander, Task Force (CTF) 72, lead for patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance forces in 7th Fleet.

“The introduction of MQ-4C Triton to the Seventh Fleet area of operations expands the reach of the U.S. Navy’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance force in the Western Pacific,” said Capt. Matt Rutherford, commander of CTF-72. “Coupling the capabilities of the MQ-4C with the proven performance of P-8, P-3 and EP-3 will enable improved maritime domain awareness in support of regional and national security objectives.”

The Navy’s Persistent Maritime UAS program office at Patuxent River, managed by Capt. Dan Mackin, and industry partner Northrop Grumman, worked closely with VUP-19 in preparation for EOC. Prior to flying the aircraft to Guam, the team completed extensive operational test and unit level training.

“This significant milestone marks the culmination of years of hard work by the joint team to prepare Triton for overseas operations,” said Mackin. “The fielding of the Navy’s premier unmanned aircraft system and its additive, persistent, multi-sensor data collection and real-time dissemination capability will revolutionize the way maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is performed.”

The MQ-4C Triton will conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions that will complement the P-8A Poseidon and will bring increased persistence, capability, and capacity through its multi-sensor mission payload.

“The inaugural deployment of Triton UAS brings enhanced capabilities and a broad increase in Maritime Domain Awareness to our forward Fleet commanders,” said Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group. “VUP-19, the Navy’s first dedicated UAS squadron supported by an outstanding NAVAIR and industry team, is superbly trained and ready to provide the persistent ISR coverage the Navy needs.”

Initial operational capability will include four air vehicles with capacity to support 24/7 operations.

Jacksonville-Based Unmanned Patrol Squadron Changes Commanders

From Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Public Affairs

April 30, 2020

Jacksonville, Florida (NNS) — The commanding officer of the Navy’s Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP) 19, transferred leadership during the time-honored change of command ceremony, April 30 aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville.  

The time-honored tradition of the change of command traces its origins back to long before the United States became a nation. It serves as an in-person handoff from one commander to another in a show of unity, good order and coordination in front of those under the command.

Cmdr. Kim DaCosta-Azar, a native of Tarrytown, New York, turned over responsibility to Cmdr. Michael Minervini, a native of Chicago, after two years of leading the command of more than 500 Sailors.

DaCosta-Azar served a unique role by leading a geographically dispersed command in NAS Jacksonville and detachment sites in Andersen Air Base, Guam and Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, California. Her leadership contributed to the squadron’s first certification for deployment. Additionally, she is responsible for the operations of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D), the predecessor to the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Air System (UAS).

According to DaCosta-Azar, the past two years has been about building a foundation for the Navy’s very first MQ-4C squadron. During this time VUP-19 accomplished many milestones to include the establishment of   the following positions: Air Vehicle Operators (AVO), Tactical Coordinators (TACCO), Mission Payload Operators (MPO), and Triton maintainers in support of fleet operations.

DaCosta-Azar added that flying Triton is very different, “while the basics of the piloting are the same, there is a complexity that comes with fly unmanned aircraft.”  Nearly 100 AVOs and MPOs have qualified under her command.

“The people are what make Triton successful, my personnel do extraordinary things with challenging resources, because this is not your typical aerial platform,” said DaCosta-Azar. “I cannot express in words how proud I am of the Big Red Team.  We are charting a new course in Naval Aviation. There has been a lot of discovery learning, but all of the Sailors of VUP-19 have answered the call at every turn to show up on station. We have arrived and I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish in the future under Commander Minervini’s leadership.”

DaCosta-Azar led her team Sailors through the first-ever operational readiness evaluation for Triton, executing over 300 flight hours of two MQ-4C aircraft, and established permanent presence for the unmanned system in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

Following her assignment at VUP-19, DaCosta-Azar will report to the U.S. State Department to work for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation in the Office of Counter Proliferation Initiatives.

Minervini praised his predecessor for her sound leadership and impact she had on the community.

“Skipper DaCosta-Azar transformed both VUP-19 and the future of the MQ-4C Triton,” said Minervini. “Doubtlessly, her leadership proved critical in laying the foundation for Unmanned Aerial Systems as a new problem-set for America’s enemies and a boon to Naval Aviation.”  

VUP-19 was established on Oct. 1, 2013 and commissioned three years later as the U.S. Navy’s first unmanned maritime patrol squadron, VUP-19 draws its lineage from and honors the rich history of Patrol Squadron (VP-19) “Big Red” legacy. The squadron reports to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing (CPRW) 11, which is also based aboard NAS Jacksonville. The mission of VUP-19 is the sustained deployment of the MQ-4C Triton in support of Combatant Commanders around the globe.

Navy MQ-4 Triton Flying Operational Missions From Guam

By Gidget Fuentes

USNI News

May 12, 2020

Almost three months after arriving in Guam, a pair of MQ-4C Triton autonomous, unmanned aircraft have integrated into fleet operations and training flights and stretched the Navy’s maritime domain awareness across the Indo-Pacific, according to the Navy.

The Navy is counting on the Triton, which can operate at greater than 50,000-foot altitudes and at the 2,000-mile-plus range, to provide an unmanned platform for persistent, maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities and work alongside its manned fleet of reconnaissance and surveillance patrol aircraft. The Tritons with Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 – the Navy’s first unmanned aircraft squadron – arrived in Guam in late January to support CTF-72, which oversees the patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance force in the U.S. 7th Fleet region.

“Bringing Triton forward creates a complex problem set for our adversaries,” Cmdr. Michael Minervini, VUP-19’s commanding officer, said in a statement.

“Our ability to provide persistent ISR to fleet and combatant commanders is unmatched in naval aviation.”

Along with supporting current operations for several Indo-Pacific-based task forces, one Triton drone recently joined in a “close formation” taxiing along with more than a dozen manned aircraft prior to takeoff at Anderson Air Force Base, Commander Task Force 72 officials said.

The radar and sensors-packed Triton drones have been operating from Anderson AFB to provide, according to the Navy, an “early operational capability (EOC) to further develop the concept of operations and fleet learning associated with operating a high-altitude, long-endurance system in the maritime domain.” Tritons’ onboard sensors and radar can track ships at sea, match tracks with automated identification systems and relay that information to shore-side bases or nearby aircraft, for example.

While the Tritons fly from Guam, the “Big Red” squadron of 300 personnel isn’t based in Guam.

A group of VUP-19 aircrew and maintainers are forward-deployed to Guam, but squadron officials and mission operators are based at VUP-19’s home at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., and a permanent detachment including maintenance personnel reside at NAS Point Mugu, Calif.

POINT MUGU, Calif. (Nov. 9, 2017)The first MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP) 19, Detachment Point Mugu, arrives at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif. The MQ-4C took off from Palmdale Airport and was remotely controlled from NAS Pax River. (U.S. Navy photo by Public Affairs Specialist Theresa Miller/Released)
Drone
GUAM (April, 4) A MQ-4C Triton taxis at Andersen Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael S. Murphy)
The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system approaches the runway at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., after completing its inaugural cross-country flight from California. The Navy will conduct Triton flight tests at Patuxent River in preparation for an operational deployment in 2017. (U.S. Navy photo by Kelly Schindler/Released)

July 4, 2020: Independence Day 2020

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on July 4, 2020: Independence Day 2020
07/04/2020

By Robbin Laird

On July 2, 1776, the signers of the Declaration of Independence finished their work.

The document was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776 and hence that became Independence Day for the newly forged United States of America.

The two youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence were both from South Carolina. Thomas Lynch, Jr. and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina were both born in 1749 and were only 26 when they signed the Declaration. Most of the other signers were in their 40s and 50s.

The text of the Declaration of Independence follows:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;

For imposing taxes on us without our consent;

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress, in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

This year President Trump held the Independence Day event not in Washington DC but at the foot of the Mount Rushmore memorial.

Blue Angels July 3, 2020 from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

The New York Times declared such an action as divisive but then again Ronald Reagan was considered a divisive president as well by the media commenting on President Reagan.

As was noted in an opinion piece by historian Gil Troy published in The New York Times in 2016 noted with regard to reactions to the election of Ronald Reagan:

“I am scared that if Ronald Reagan gets into office, we are going to see more of the Ku Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party,” Coretta Scott King said in November, 1980.

“I’m afraid things are going to blow sky high during this next term,” a nursing student said.

He’s a “nitwit,” added a Democrat. “He’s shallow, superficial and frightening,” one of that year’s historic numbers of “undecideds” insisted.

Ronald Reagan “seems not to relish complexity and subtlety,” the New York Times editorial endorsing President Jimmy Carter’s re-election proclaimed.

“The problem is not a loose lip but the simple answer.”

While fearing what Reagan’s own running mate, George H.W. Bush, had dismissed as Reagan’s “voodoo economics” during their primary fight, the editorial board feared “voodoo diplomacy,” too.

From coast to coast, half of a divided nation abhorred — and underestimated — the president-elect. “The American people,“ Hamilton Jordan, a key Carter aide, said, “are not going to elect a 70-year-old, right-wing, ex-movie actor to be president.”

At the Independence Day event held at the footsteps of Mount Rushmore, President Trump channeled his inner Reagan to respond to the the unprecedented events ranging from the House of Representatives attempt at a coup d’etat, to COVID-19, to the BLM narrative bidding for prime time in America.

The President clearly articulated a response to such events, which The New York Times considered divisive but one could ask what the events since November have been from the House, the conflict among the states to managing COVID-19 and the the BLM narrative?

Perhaps just a bit divisive, mates?

The speech of President Trump can be found below:

Remarks by President Trump at South Dakota’s 2020 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration | Keystone, South Dakota | The White House

 

President Donald Trump addresses the crowd during the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3, 2020. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
B-1B Lancers fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The B-1s, from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, S.D., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the Navy Blue Angels based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, Rapid City. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
F-16 Flying Falcons fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s, from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls, S.D., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.; Blue Angels F-18 Hornets based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, Rapid City. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters fly over Mount Rushmore during a Salute to America celebration hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. The HH-60s, from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment based in Rapid City., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the Navy Blue Angels based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.; the B-1 Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; and South Dakota National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls. Additionally, bands from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cody Hendrix/Released)
The U.S. Air Force Academy Band Pegasus plays music during a Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3, 2020. The USAFA Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., was part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, Mitchell, S.D., also provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
The South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band performs music during a Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3, 2020. The 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., was part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., were part of the DoD’s participation that also included aerial flyovers by the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16s Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60s Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., also provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.
A firework display concludes the Salute to America celebration at Mount Rushmore hosted by the state of South Dakota July 3. DoD’s participation during the event included aerial flyovers by the Blue Angels, based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., the B-1B Lancer from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base; South Dakota Air National Guard F-16 Falcons from the 114th Fighter Wing, Sioux Falls; and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, in Rapid City, S.D. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, from Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 147th band, from Mitchell, S.D., provided musical entertainment. The events celebrated the 244th year of the Independence of the Nation and provided the DoD an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and professionalism of the Armed Forces.