Aerospace World
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Aerospace World By Peter Grier Curtis Bows Out Former Deputy Secretary of Energy Charles B. Curtis, whom the White House had planned to tap as its next nominee to be Secretary of the Air Force, withdrew his name from consideration for the post. Curtis had become concerned that USAF photo by SrA. Jeffrey Allen his confirmation hearing in the Senate would focus on lax security at Energy Department labs, said Pentagon spokes man Kenneth H. Bacon on April 9. The result would be “a lengthy, protracted confirmation hearing” that would “deny the Air Force a perma- nent Secretary,” said Bacon. At least one DoE lab has allegedly been the source of leaks of sensitive nuclear weapons technology to the Chinese. Curtis, a Washington lawyer, was a The reserve force call-up will beef US Mobilizes Guard, Reserve for Balkan Duty up USAF refueling operations in the Balkans. President Clinton authorized Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen to call up members of the National Guard and the Reserve to active duty to provide support for NATO operations in and around Kosovo, the Defense Department reported. The Pentagon declared April 27 that roughly 2,000 Guardsmen and Reservists will be called up initially for support of air-refueling operations, and others may be flew Raptor 02 to an altitude of 50,000 called in the future as required. feet and performed both flutter tests Clinton approved a Presidential Selected Reserve Call-up, or PSRC, to support and flying quality maneuvers. NATO operations. It authorizes Cohen to call up 33,102 members of the Selected “The entire F-22 team is excited Reserve to active duty. about moving into the next phase of Announcing the move, Cohen said, “Until now, we have been able to meet many of test activity,” said Tom Burbage, presi- our military requirements for operations in the Balkans using volunteers from the Na- dent of Lockheed Martin Aeronautical tional Guard and Reserve who have been serving side by side with the active forces.” He added, “Ongoing operations now require more support from the reserve forces. Systems. “The tests and modifications The PSRC is designed to help us meet those expanding needs.” performed on the F-22 over the past Guard and Reserve forces are thoroughly integrated into the Total Air Force. For three months will pave the way for example, more than half of USAF’s aerial refueling capability and airlift capacity expanded flight activity the rest of resides in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command. this year.” US law permits a President to call to active duty up to 200,000 members of the The flight hiatus started at the be- Selected Reserve and the Individual Ready Reserve for up to 270 days. ginning of 1999. Technicians swarmed over the two F-22s assigned to the Combined Test Facility at Edwards AFB, Calif., trying out maintenance classmate of Secretary of Defense Wil- not react quickly enough to reports of tasks and completing support equip- liam S. Cohen’s at Boston Uni versity’s Chinese espionage. Recent reports ment validations. Among the changes law school. He had been involved in indicate that, among other things, the the ground tests produced were security matters as a deputy secretary Chinese may have obtained data on modifications to landing gear sup- at the Energy Department and “has the exact shape of the Trident II W88 port equipment and reduced tool been cited for his zeal in dealing with nuclear warhead. requirements. [security] problems,” insisted Bacon, “Testing a fighter aircraft today is when asked about the withdrawal. F-22 Back in the Skies really a combination of ground tests Lax security at DoE labs has be- The F-22 is back in the skies after and flight tests,” said Maj. Gen. (sel.) come a controversial subject in Wash- a planned three months of ground Michael C. Mushala, director of the ington, with Republicans charging tests and system updates. On April 8, F-22 Systems Program Office. “The that the Clinton Administration did Lockheed Martin test pilot Jon Beesley F-22 has performed extremely well in 16 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 1999 Shining Hope Aids Expelled Kosovars Responding to the tidal wave of eth- nic Albanians fleeing “ethnic cleansing” operations in Kosovo, the Air Force generated the largest humanitarian airlift in Europe in 50 years. USAF photo by SSgt. Efrain Gonzalez Not since the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49 have Europeans seen such a massive movement of food, medicine, tents, and supplies. The airlift, part of NATO’s Operation Shining Hope, delivered to Kosovar refugees in the first month alone more than 3,150 tons of emergency sup- plies—2,000 tons of food, 400 tons of shelter gear, 520 tons of support equip- ment, 140 tons of bedding, 30 tons of medical supplies, and 60 tons of vehicles. More than 1 million ethnic Albanians— more than half of Kosovo’s former total population—have been displaced as a result of the fighting that began to escalate A1C Jimmy Blevins, 437th Security Forces Squadron, Charleston AFB, S.C., provides in March 1998 and went into high gear security for a C-17 at Tirana, Albania, where US forces have been deployed to pro- with the start of Operation Allied Force vide humanitarian aid to Kosovo Albanian refugees. March 24. The NATO offensive campaign sought to compel Yugoslav forces to halt operations in Kosovo and withdraw. Of the total refugees, more than 500,000 have crossed the border from Kosovo The Pentagon requested both com- into Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro, where they are concentrated in panies to submit their revised plans, spartan refugee camps. The rest are displaced within the war-wracked Yugoslav detailing how they propose to remain province itself. on budget and on schedule through Joint Task Force Shining Hope provided a lifeline of sorts for Kosovars outside the concept demonstration phase to of their homeland. The US effort comprises airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines, downselect in 2001, by the end of April. who are at work in the Albanian capital of Tirana and Skopje, Macedonia, support- The move came in response to a ing the United Nations’ plan for distributing humanitarian supplies to the refugees. $100 million cost overrun by Lockheed Leading JTF Shining Hope is Maj. Gen. William S. Hinton Jr., commander of USAFE’s 3d Air Force. He directs the mission from a communications facility in and an aircraft redesign by Boeing, Germany. which might add cost in the future. The The operation began April 5. Forty airmen from the 86th Contingency Response JSF concept demonstration program Group, Ramstein AB, Germany, arrived in Tirana, established a base camp at a began in November 1996 and will end local airfield, and made preparations for a relief force to follow. The US presence when a contractor is selected in 2001. grew to about 400. Boeing announced April 7 that it has C-5s, C-17s, and C-130s have hauled many tons of supplies, including a loader begun final assembly of its model, the and forklifts. The airlifters have brought in thousands of prepackaged humanitar- X-32A, two weeks ahead of schedule. ian daily rations, as well as support equipment. A contract 747 carried tons of DoD program officials had not set rations, or about 68,000 meals, in one early flight. Relief supplies include tents, cots, sleeping bags, blankets, and 700,000 daily rations. a date for completing a review of the Flights have originated not only in Europe but also from points in the United revised plans. States. Supplies have been offloaded not only in Albania and Macedonia but also in Italy, where they were transferred to ships for transport. Luke Finds F-16 Engine Cracks Other US services and NATO countries, including France and England, are An investigation looking at the also providing humanitarian assistance. causes of a series of crashes at Luke AFB, Ariz., has found significant en- gine cracks in 18 F-16 fighters, the Air Force stated in late April after both areas, demonstrating 25 percent past Mach 1.8 and demonstrate super- completing inspections of the 190 more flight test points and 20 percent cruise, or the ability to cruise faster F-16s located at Luke. more logistics, or ground test, points than the speed of sound without use The cracks were found in relatively than originally planned.” of afterburners. If all goes well the De- old Pratt & Whitney 220 engines. They The ground team also carried out a partment of Defense will likely award were located in augmenter ducts, number of planned modifications to the contracts for the first six production which help boost engine thrust by aircraft themselves. These included F-22s in November. channeling exhaust from the engine’s new brakes, new fuel pumps and fuel nozzles. Some of the cracks were up system probes, and new flight control JSF Goes Back for Replanning to an inch long, said officials. actuators and horizontal tails to meet The Pentagon has asked the two Luke has been bedeviled by acci- stiffness requirements. contractors vying to build the Joint dents, with six base F-16s crashing Raptor 02 also received a spin Strike Fighter, Boeing and Lockheed since last October. Air Force officials recovery chute for use in upcoming Martin, to submit reworked plans to temporarily halted flights at the base high-angle-of-attack testing. make sure they can finish the demon- after a March crash near Phoenix. During the coming months, flight stration phase of the program without Flights were halted once again after tests will attempt to push the F-22 busting their $1.1 billion budgets.