Footage of the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team taking off.
CO, UNITED STATES
07.26.2019
Video by Senior Airman Sean Sweeney
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HMS Queen Elizabeth Sets Sail for the US for Next Phase of Operational Trials
08/31/2019
While the winds of Brexit pick up speed, HMS Queen Elizabeth heads to the United States for the next phase of its preparations for its first operational engagements in the early 2020s.
According to a story published on the Ministry of Defence website on August 30, 2019, the event was highlighted.
For the first time, UK fighter jets will join this state-of-the-art ship in a significant milestone for the programme.
The deployment, known as ‘WESTLANT 19,’ will see the carrier conduct ‘Operational Testing’, with British F-35B Lightning jets embarking for the first time as she moves closer to her first operational deployment in 2021. The carrier will also spend time in Canada during her four-month travels.
Operational Testing is designed to put the jets, ship and supporting units through their paces. The tests allow the equipment and crew to operate under realistic warfighting scenarios to ready them for their first operational deployment.
From planning campaigns, briefing, preparing and arming the jets and pilots, to flying and sustaining them on their ‘mission,’ the trials ensure that the units can fight as one.
Defence Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:
“HMS Queen Elizabeth is symbolic of the UK’s global reach and power. As she enters this stage of the programme, she will demonstrate her immense engineering, capability and battle readiness.
“As she makes her second voyage across the Atlantic, HMS Queen Elizabeth will also strengthen our special relationship with the US and Canada. Our naval forces will visit Canada then spend the coming months working and training side by side with the US to ensure the UK’s carrier strike is ready for operations in 2021.
“The deployment represents the continued positive relationship between the UK and US. Units from the United States Navy, US Air Force and US Marine Corps will all take part in the ‘WESTLANT 19’ deployment, further demonstrating the close partnership between the two NATO allies.”
While at sea, HMS Queen Elizabeth is accompanied by other units of the Commander UK Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG) including a Type-45 destroyer, a Type-23 frigate and air assets from the Carrier Air Wing. This provides vital warfighting skills and training for each element to the Royal Navy’s potent carrier strike capabilities.
RFA Tideforce is providing tanker support to the Strike Group, which will be joined by ships and air assets from other nations throughout the deployment. Lima Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines based in Plymouth and a Role 2 Medical Team Afloat are also embarked on the carrier.
HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Commanding Officer, Capt Steve Moorhouse said:
“To command any warship is a privilege but to be able to command HMS Queen Elizabeth during this pivotal phase of her capability development is a real honour. In addition to my core ship’s company, the fixed and rotary wing air assets, enhanced medical capability, Royal Marines and other force elements from across Defence will enhance HMS Queen Elizabeth and the UK’s Carrier Strike capability on this deployment.
“WESTLANT 19 is a hugely exciting deployment and as we increase the scale and complexity of our training and testing, so the potency of this extraordinary ship continues to grow.”
Commander of UKCSG, Cdre Mike Utley said:
“The success of last years’ deployment during which we embarked and operated the F-35B for the very first time put us ahead of the curve in terms of developmental testing between the jets and ship. We have a significant switch in focus this year, towards operationalising this national defence capability; turning this ship, the jets for which it has been built and all supporting units into a cohesive, agile, efficient force.
“Whether that’s warfighting at one end of the scale, peacekeeping at the other end or delivering humanitarian support across the globe. Our first operational deployment in 2021 is not far away and we will be ready for any eventuality.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth will also host the second Atlantic Future Forum during her time in the US, following on from the inaugural forum held last year in New York. The forum provides a platform for innovators, business leaders and tech entrepreneurs across government and industry to explore emerging cyber, artificial intelligence and space trends, technologies and threats.
The ‘WESTLANT 19’ Strike Group will return to the UK at the end of the year. HMS Queen Elizabeth’s sister ship HMS Prince of Wales is in her final stages of build at Rosyth Dockyard. She is expected to commence her sea trials in the coming weeks.
The featured photo: HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail from Portsmouth today. Crown copyright.
As we hare argued, the coming of the carrier is an integral part of UK military transformation as well as a redshift of focus on the Northern and Southern Flanks of NATO.
This is about the return of geography in the direct defense of Europe as well as the reshaping of the force.
With the coming of Brexit, there is a natural withdrawal of military attention from what used to be called the Central Front during the Cold War days, and a renewed focus on the flanks. France and Germany have asserted that their defense collaboration will take care of Europe’s defense and providing the maneuver forces and space for the defense of Europe’s new front line in Poland and the Baltics, and the UK’s contribution will be reduced to reinforcing efforts, not leading them in this continental European sector.
The new carrier is a key piece of sovereign real estate around which flank defense will be generated. It is also a focal point for RAF and Royal Navy integration of the sort, which a transformed force will need to deliver to the nation.
During a visit to Portsmouth, England and to RAF Marham in early May 2018, senior Royal Navy and defense personnel involved in the standing up of the UK carrier strike capability highlighted how they saw the new capability fitting into the broader strategic picture. The new UK carriers are coming at a time when there is a broader UK and allied defense transformation and a strategic shift from counter-insurgency to higher end operations.
The new UK carrier provides a mobile basing capability by being a flexible sea base, which can compliment UK land-based air assets, and provide a flexible asset that can play a role in the Northern Flank or the Mediterranean on a regular deployment basis and over time be used for deployments further away from Europe as well.
The commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, Commodore Andrew Betton and Colonel Phil Kelly, Royal Marines, COMUKCSG Strike Commander discussed the coming of the new UK aircraft carrier.
Commodore Betton and Col. Kelly both underscored the flexible nature of the HMS Queen Elizabeth. The UK is building out a 21stcentury version of a carrier strike group, one which can leverage the F-35 as a multi-domain combat system and to do both kinetic and non-kinetic strike based on these aircraft, as well combine them with helicopter assault assets to do an F-35 enabled assault, or if desired, shift to a more traditional heavy helicopter assault strike.
As Commodore Betton put it: “Our new carrier offers a really flexible, integrative capability. The carrier can play host and is intended absolutely to play host to a carrier air wing. At the same time, it can provide something very different inn terms of littoral combat operations, primarily using helicopters.”
They emphasized that the Royal Navy was building new escort ships as well as new submarines and the approach to building a maritime strike group meant that working through the operational launch of the carrier was also about its ability to integrated with and to lead a 21stcentury maritime strike group.
And the new maritime strike group was being built to work with allies but just as importantly to operate in the sovereign interest of the United Kingdom. The F-35B onboard was a key enabler to the entire strike group functions.
Commodore Betton: “The airwing enables us to maneuver to deliver effects in the particular part of the battlespace which we are operating in. You can have sea control without the airwing. Our air wing can enable us to be able to do that and have sufficient capability to influence the battlespace. You clearly do not simply want to be a self-sustaining force that doesn’t do anything to affect the battlespace decisively. The F-35 onboard will allow us to do that.”
Col. Kelly noted that with the threat to land air bases, it was important to have a sea base to operate from as well, either as an alternative or complement to land bases. “The carriers will be the most protected air base which we will have. And we can move that base globally to affect the area of interest important to us. For example, with regard to Northern Europe, we could range up and down the coastlines in the area and hold at risk adversary forces. I think we can send a powerful message to any adversary.”
Commodore Betton added that the other advantage of the sea base is its ability to be effective on arrival. “If you have to operate off of land, you have to have the local permission. You have to move assets ashore. You have to support assets ashore. And you have to protect the land base. The sea base has all of that built in.
“And there is nothing austere about our carriers in terms of operating aircraft.” We focused on how the carrier becomes integrated with broader strike picture, for the point is not simply that the carrier itself launches F-35s or helicopters, but how the command post can manage the aircraft they launch with the distributed strike assets in the strike group, which could include land-based air or land based forces as well.”
Col. Kelly emphasized that their position was similar to the evolution of the USMC where “every platform can be a sensor or a shooter” in the battlespace. The C2 onboard the carrier on in the air with the Crow’s nest or the F-35Bs can be part of a distributed CS system to ensure maximum effect from the strike and sensing capability of the task force and its related partners in the battlespace.
And innovations in the missile domain up to and including directed energy weapons have been anticipated in the support structure onboard the carrier. During a visit in 2015 to the Scottish shipyard when the initial Queen Elizabeth carrier was being built, I had a chance to look at the infrastructure onboard the ship to support weapons as well as was briefed on the significant power generation capabilities onboard the ship which clearly allow it to when appropriate technology is available to add directed energy weapons.
In addition, to the longer-range weapons already in train and the ones which will be developed in the decade ahead, the British carriers are being built to be able to handle rolling landing which allow the F-35s to come back onto the ship with weapons which have not been used during the mission.
The second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales is the first of the two carriers to be fitted with this capability which will be further tested when it comes to the United States in a couple of years for its F-35 integration trials as well.
In short, the new carrier is being built with “growthability” in mind, in terms of what it can do organically, and what it can leverage and contribute to the maritime task force, and reach out into the battlespace to work effectively with other national or allied assets operating in the area of interest.
And the carrier is not simply a new asset for the RAF and the Royal Navy – it is coming into its operational life as the post-Brexit alliance structure is being shaped as well.
Reinvigorating the US-Australian Alliance: How Trump and Morrison Could Do More Than Just Have Dinner
When President Trump arrived in Japan for the G-20 earlier this summer he had dinner with the newly elected Australian Prime Minister.
He was especially keen to understand how the PM pulled off an upset victory.
Now the President will host the Australian PM for dinner next month in the White House.
“The visit will celebrate our two countries’ close friendship and shared history, and reaffirm our common vision for global peace, security, and prosperity,” the White House said in a statement.
Morrison and his wife will visit the White House on Sept. 20. He will be the second world leader Trump has welcomed for a state dinner, which is typically reserved for close allies. The first was French President Emmanuel Macron in April 2018.
Morrison, who like Trump ran a populist conservative campaign, scored a surprise victory in May to win a three-year term as prime minister amid expectations that his coalition would lose seats.
Trump met with Morrison for a working dinner at the Group of 20 summit last month, where the president highlighted the longstanding relationship between the two countries.
Trade is likely to be a key talking point during the upcoming state visit. The New York Times reported in June that Trump considered placing tariffs on Australia but faced fierce opposition from military and diplomatic officials.
In an article published by ASPI on August 28, 2019, Michael Shoebridge highlighted how the two leaders might recharge the alliance.
Scott Morrison’s upcoming state dinner with Donald Trump in the White House offers a rare opportunity for both leaders to explore ambitious and creative options for the future of US–Australia relations.
This month’s AUSMIN meeting established a strong foundation for future cooperation, with some important new areas of focus—notably, critical minerals, energy and space, and deeper engagement with Southeast Asia. It has also underlined the value of continuing cooperation on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, implementing the Pacific step-up and countering Islamic State terrorism.
There are two areas, though, in which the prime minister and president might push things beyond their respective bureaucracies’ comfort zones—and that sort of forward-leaning approach would be a healthy thing. Leaders don’t travel intercontinental distances merely to share a nice meal and rehearse earlier agreements.
First, there’s defence cooperation. The US Force Posture Initiatives are going well. They include the deployment of 2,500 marines in Darwin, enhanced cooperation by the Australian Defence Force and the US military in Southeast Asia, and the rotation of US fighter and bomber aircraft through the north, with co-investments by Australia and the US in the facilities to enable these efforts.
A new, imaginative step is needed—and it should be one that accelerates achievement of the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy through a more mobile, dispersed US force in the region, while also increasing Australian military power.
Projecting US and Australian naval power from a new set of facilities at the Stirling base near Perth would reset the maritime security agenda in a big, positive way. A major reinvestment well beyond current Australian plans, with some US co-investment, would have a strategic effect beyond previous administrations’ efforts. What’s needed are facilities to support two or more major US naval vessels on permanent rotation alongside Australia’s growing west coast fleet.
US naval forces would have a place to operate from that’s logistically secure and gives them options beyond their bases in Guam, Hawaii and Diego Garcia. And the Australian navy would achieve the growing room it will need in future as well as having their highest-end partner navy right there to train and operate with.
It would be a key part of getting ahead of the growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean and complicate Chinese military planning and projects under the Belt and Road Initiative that are designed to support Chinese forces. It would also provide a platform to accelerate Quad naval cooperation with India and Japan. Combined with the investment by Papua New Guinea, the US and Australia in upgrading the Lombrum base, the WA idea would re-establish US and allied initiative in the Indo-Pacific.
Second, there’s an urgent need to change perceptions on a key issue that will shape everything about the US–Australia partnership for decades to come. Too many commentators—including business leaders—have signed up to the narrative that America is Australia’s security partner, but China is Australia’s economic partner. That’s lazy thinking, and untrue.
Australia’s engagement with the Chinese economy is a trade-based one, and China is indeed our largest trading partner. Our two-way trade was worth some $215 billion in 2018. But China (including Hong Kong) is our fifth-largest source of foreign investment (some $182 billion) after Belgium. The US, by contrast, is our third-largest trading partner (at $74 billion in 2018) but our largest source of foreign investment by far—its $939 billion is followed by second-placed UK at $575 billion. On the flip side, Australian investment into China (including Hong Kong) is a healthy $128 billion, but our investment into the US is more than five times that, at $719 billion.
Statistics won’t win hearts and minds, though. The real opportunity for Trump and Morrison is to show both nations’ peoples and business communities that the US–Australia alliance is an economic one and a strategic one. That means prioritising economic cooperation and then empowering our business leaders to take advantage of those opportunities through policy and regulatory incentives. That’s good economics and good security.
The most obvious priority area for two-way investment is infrastructure renewal. Trump won office promising a huge package to refresh ageing American roads, rail, ports and other critical infrastructure. He’s yet to get a package together and is likely to continue to have difficulty with Congress and with finding the budgetary room for the spending required.
Well, Australia can help. We’re the world’s 13th-largest economy, but we have outsized economic power in our superannuation industry. Our super assets are valued at US$1.9 trillion—the fourth-largest pension assets pool on the planet. Australian pension funds need stable, high-quality returns—and investing to renew the infrastructure that underpins the continued dynamism of the world’s largest economy is a massive opportunity to achieve that.
Whatever the glories of the US–Australia free-trade agreement, Trump and Morrison can supercharge Australian investment in US infrastructure by insisting that their administrations find new incentives and strip back regulatory processes. An infrastructure investment summit with business and government representatives would be a logical first step. Businesses make investment decisions, but governments must lead and create the environment for investment—by reducing regulatory obstacles and giving favourable taxation treatment and investment incentives.
Australia, in turn, can benefit from enhanced US investment in our own critical infrastructure. The Foreign Investment Review Board’s reform to include national security factors more prominently in its approval process shows the way forward. It has led to decisions to reject Chinese entities’ bids in critical areas like electricity networks and east coast gas distribution, where national security is a key element. Applying this logic—and recognising that both security and economics are key to evaluating competing foreign investment bids—US proposals would benefit from a positive national security assessment.
None of this is intended to devalue the AUSMIN package of future cooperation. But if Trump and Morrison want to establish their own agenda for the US–Australia relationship, they can do so by creating a joint Indo-Pacific naval hub on Australia’s west coast and by supercharging two-way investment in each nation’s critical and digital infrastructure. That would portray a forward-leaning alliance ready to address the challenges of a new era.
Michael Shoebridge is director of the defence, strategy and national security program at ASPI.
Cropped image: White House/Flickr.
HIMRS Night Fire
08/30/2019Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 182 Field Artillery Regiment, Michigan National Guard, fire the M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) during a live fire training mission at Exercise Northern Strike 19, Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center, Michigan, on July 24 and 25.
GRAYLING, MI, UNITED STATES
07.25.2019
Video by Cpl. Stephen Wright
142nd Field Artillery Brigade
Russian Nuclear Explosion Highlights Need to Reduce Dependence on Moscow’s Rockets
08/29/2019
By Richard Weitz
The August 8 nuclear explosion of the new Russian Burevestniks cruise missile doubly reminds us of the need to end the U.S. dependence on Russian rocket boosters. America’s reliance on Russian rockets presents a major security and safety vulnerability that must be eliminated as soon as possible.
First, the Russian government is openly engaged in an arms race with the United States that extends throughout the globe and into outer space. The Russian military is developing a range of weapons to kill us, including anti-satellite weapons to blind the Pentagon. It is not hard to imagine Moscow suspending the sale of critical components to the U.S. military space program.
Second, the large number of recent Russian military and space accidents should make clear the danger of depending on unreliable Russian space tech. Not only has the Burevestniks repeatedly crashed, but only one day after the missile’s latest mishap, several massive Siberian munitions dumps exploded, forcing thousands of people to flee. Last month, the Russian Navy’s most advanced nuclear spy submarine also suffered an explosion and fire, killing fourteen officers.
Not only are Russian space systems unreliable, but the Russian space industry faces is plagued with corruption, safety problems, and is suffering an exodus of skilled workers, either into retirement or exile.
The Congress has cleverly leveraged leading U.S. private sector firms to share the costs with the government. These contractors have been tasked to develop next-generation space rockers that can place military payloads in orbit.
In particular, the Congress has authorized the Air Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program to provide limited funding to the most competitive U.S. space corporations. The program aims to utilize several capable rocket manufacturers in order to revitalize the U.S. national security space launch fleet.
The process has been proceeding well. In 2019, the Air Force awarded three developmental Launch Service Agreements (LSA). These LSAs provided targeted funding to the U.S. space companies developing launch system prototypes that can best cover all critical orbits.
On May 3, the Air Force initiated Phase 2 of the NSSL program. Its Space and Missile Systems Center, partnering with the National Reconnaissance Office, released a request for proposals for competitive contracts for two domestic launch service providers. These providers would share opportunities for National Security Space payloads over the next five years.
According to the Trump administration, “the national security space launch requirements over the course of five years would optimize warfighter flexibility, minimizes mission risk, and provides exceptional value to the taxpayer.”
This revitalized commercial U.S. space force will work in concert with the new Space Command that will become the Defense Department’s 11th unified combatant command on August 29. Without strong commercial space companies independent from Russian engines, the new Space Command would not have secure satellites critical for its success.
The Air Force has insisted that the NSSL program must remain on schedule to safeguard U.S. national security interests. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, observing that, “We are answering Congress’ 2014 directive to transition off the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine” by the end of 2022, affirmed that, “We must move forward now.”
However, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 would upend this critical program for achieving U.S. space independence.
Specifically, the Committee’s proposed changes would force the Air Force to reopen the competition for launch contracts late into the development program despite the resulting delays and higher costs to incorporate them.
Another change would earmark half-a-billion dollars for a special “certification and infrastructure” fund to companies that do not receive a Launch Service Agreement with the Pentagon, which would undermine the basis for a fair and open competition.
The HASC version would also require the Air Force to notify Congress in advance of its awards, which risks further politicizing military space issues.
The White House has warned that the HASC language “would increase mission risk for the nation’s national security satellites” because it “would increase per-launch cost while simultaneously introducing risk and costs for some intelligence payloads.”
Russia’s nuclear explosion and other hostile national security acts are but the latest reminder of the danger of relying on Russia as a critical source in the U.S. outer space supply chain. Now is the time to end U.S. dependence on Russian rocket engines by executing the agreed program.
The featured photo shows Russian military police patrolling the city of Achinsk in eastern Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region following an explosion. The Emergencies Ministry said that 9,533 people were evacuated from the area 20 kilometres from the depot and about 7,000 fled on their own as massive explosions sent plumes of black smoke high into the skies.(Dmitry Dub/Associated Press)
USAF Training
08/28/2019The 737th Training Group revamped U.S. Air Force basic military training to inspire and develop MACH-21 Airmen.
In order to achieve this goal, BMT curriculum changes improve all aspects of training across an 8.5-week program that focuses on readiness, lethality, airmanship, fitness and warrior ethos. (U.S. Air Force video by Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos)
The 737th Training Group revamped U.S. Air Force basic military training to inspire and develop MACH-21 Airmen. In order to achieve this goal, BMT curriculum changes improve all aspects of training across an 8.5-week program that focuses on readiness, lethality, airmanship, fitness and warrior ethos.
(U.S. Air Force video by Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos)
Heavy Lift Helo Powrer Projection
08/26/2019U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 361, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) and Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 371, Marine Wing Support Group (MWSG) 37, 3rd MAW conduct a Deployment For Training (DFT) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., June 17 through July 1, 2019.
The mission of this DFT was to rehearse expeditionary operations at unfamiliar airfields and expeditionary air base set up, consistent with operational employment of expeditionary advanced base operations.
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES
07.01.2019
Video by Lance Cpl. Juan Anaya
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar / 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
The Potential Impact of 3D Printing on the Military Supply Chain
08/25/2019
3 D Printing is in its infancy in terms of providing parts for the military.
A challenge for the military is of course the need for parts reliability and ruggedness at very high standards.
This is why the term “military grade” was invented.
But as 3D printing becomes part of the sustainment enterprise, there are very significant impacts to be anticipated.
“Just in time” gets a whole new meaning when one can build parts locally.
This means as well that distribute operations can be facilitated more effectively.
And there is a significant potential reduction on the supply fleet, whether it be by land, sea or air.
What 3D printing can provide is a further enhancement as well of sea basing for an ability to provide parts produced at sea can be stood up.
But we are in early days of such possibilities.
As Michael Gravier noted in an April 12, 2016 article:
The specialization and economic benefits of globalization become outdated in a world where a 3D printer and some spools of wire or other generic inputs can make nearly any desired product relatively quickly.
Generic inputs require far less negotiation and planning. They also do not become obsolete and the quality is standardized, meaning that there’s less need to monitor supplier performance.
Since nearly all value is added by the 3D printer and inputs are relatively low value, standardized commodities, Just in Time Inventory (JIT) and other inventory reduction approaches will be needed less.
And the graphic below highlights how 3D printing will impact the commercial sector and it does not take much imagination to understand how significant such a transition will be for military operations as well.
Supply-Chain-InfographicWhat is clear is that 3D printing for the deployed force will be yet another driver for shifting in the United States from the antiquated depot system.
Our closest allies such as the Brits and the Australians have already demonstrated that advanced systems need a very different appraoch to logistics support than the use of the rules and methods of maintaining fixed depots. 3D printing is just the latest driver for change on the U.S. but can the U.S. follow the path of innovation rather than federal sourcing?
Earlier this year, the USAF installed a metallic 3D printed part on an operational F-22.
The 3D aircraft printed part was installed by 574th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintainers during depot maintenance at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
574th AMXS director Robert Lewin said: “One of the most difficult things to overcome in the F-22 community, because of the small fleet size, is the availability of additional parts to support the aircraft.”
The printed part is designed to replace a corrosion-prone aluminium component in the kick panel assembly of the cockpit. With the use of 3D printing, maintainers can now acquire replacement parts within short notice, saving money and aircraft maintenance time.
And in this story published by defenceWeb on August 21, 2019, the USAF use of 3D printing to produce non-structural aircraft parts was highlighted:
The United States Air Force’s 60th Maintenance Squadron has become the first field unit in the Air Force to be certified with an industrial-sized 3D printer that is authorized to produce non-structural aircraft parts.
The US Air Force (USAF) this week said the Stratasys F900 3D printer, which is capable of printing plastic parts up to 91x60x91 cm (36-by-24-by-36 inches), uses a material called Ultem 9085 that is more flexible, dense and stronger than typical plastic.
The printer, which is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Advanced Technology and Training Center, offers new opportunities to create needed parts while saving time and money, the Air Force said.
“It brings us a capability that we’ve never had before,” said Master Sgt. John Higgs, 60th MXS aircraft metals technology section chief. “There’s so many possibilities available to us right now. We’re just scratching the surface.”
Technicians are able to download blueprints from an online database that the University of Dayton Research Institute has approved.
“The Joint Engineering Data Management Information Control System is where we go to download already approved blueprints,” Higgs said. “Now, the University of Dayton Research Institute is working with the engineers to get those parts they developed into JEDMICS.”
The first approved project was printed on the Stratasys F900 Aug. 12 and will replace latrine covers on the C-5M Super Galaxy. Typically, parts that don’t keep the aircraft from performing their mission don’t have as high as a priority for replacement.
“The latrine covers we just printed usually take about a year from the time they’ve been ordered to the time they’ve been delivered,” Higgs said. “We printed two of the covers in 73 hours.”
Getting the printer operational was no easy task. It took eight months to get the system fully operational.
“There were facility requirements that had to be met, and then installation and certification processes to complete,” Higgs said. “After, we needed to decide who could operate the printer, then have a UDRI instructor certify them.”
Three members from the 60th MXS were chosen to be the first technicians trained in the Air Force for the initial certification. One of them, Tech. Sgt. Rogelio Lopez, 60th MXS assistant aircraft metals technology section chief, has been with the project since its inception.
“UDRI has not trained or certified anyone else at the field level except the three of us here at Travis Air Force Base,” Lopez said. “Now that we’re signed off on our training records, we’re the only ones who can operate, maintain and print on the Stratasys F900.”
Now with parts in production, all the hard work is paying off. There’s a new sense of urgency within the organization.
“It’s exciting because the Air Force is implementing new technology at the field level,” Lopez said. “The Air Force continues to encourage Airmen to be innovative by finding new ways to streamline processes and save resources.”
And since Travis AFB is the only field unit that is currently operational, requests from outside the organization are already coming in.
“We already have a list from the Air Force level to help them print and to backfill some supplies,” Higgs said. “This will ensure other bases can replace items sooner than expected with our help.”
Ultimately, the maintenance shop wants to use the printer for more than just aircraft parts.
“We have the capability to print parts on a production scale for a lot more customers,” Higgs said. “The overall goal is to generate products for every organization to support whatever needs they may have.”