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Something big happened on the Aerospace Nation call today with Maj Gen Clinton Hinote, dep dir of Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability (AFWIC).
It started with breaking news on the Arsenal Plane story, but expanded to propose a radical restructuring of the USAF. /1
It started with breaking news on the Arsenal Plane story, but expanded to propose a radical restructuring of the USAF. /1
Back in April, AFRL dropped palletized munitions off C-130s & C-17s, a demo of an Arsenal Plane concept.
When Gen. Tim Ray, head of Global Strike Command, met reporters in early April, I asked him how AFGSC’s bombers would integrate with missile-carrying mobility aircraft. /2
When Gen. Tim Ray, head of Global Strike Command, met reporters in early April, I asked him how AFGSC’s bombers would integrate with missile-carrying mobility aircraft. /2
Ray said he opposed mobility aircraft for Arsenal Plane. It would make the combatant commander’s strike needs compete with airlift needs, he said. Ray expressed support for a clean-sheet design for a new Arsenal Plane. /3
That was two months ago. Today, @ValerieInsinna asked AFWIC’s Hinote about the C-130 and C-17 demo, and we got a very different response. /4
On the back of the “successful” demos this spring, Hinote said, the Air Staff is discussing proposals to prototype and field a new capability with dropping palletized munitions off of C-130s and C-17s. This was the breaking news. /5
Remembering Ray’s criticism, I followed-up Valerie’s question and asked Hinote how such a capability would fit into the Air Force’s existing command structure, which is divided into functional (ACC=fighters, AFGSC=bombers, AMC=mobility) commands. /6
Hinote acknowledged the problem and elaborated on it. In war-games, the USAF’s organization structure with 11 major commands “actually works against our effectiveness. Some sort of extremely streamlined command and control is going to be necessary.” /7
Hinote explained the big picture: In wargames, the USAF needs “inside” and “outside” forces. The insiders are stealthy jets that penetrate contested airspace. Outside jets stand outside defenses, lobbing long-range munitions from a relatively safe distance. /8
A lot of attention is focused on the “inside” force composed of B-21s, F-22s and F-35s, but the outside force is also important. And they need more munitions capacity than offered by 100+ B-21s and 75 B-52s, Hinote said. So Arsenal Plane is essential. /9
“What we see is that no matter how big our bomber force is the capacity that the Joint Force needs is always more and more,” Hinote said. “So this is why we think that there& #39;s a real possibility here for using cargo platforms, to be able to increase the capacity of fires.” /10
But that’s not all. “We must streamline [the USAF command structure] in a way that& #39;s pretty radical,” Hinote said. “That’s not something the Air Force is going to decide, but it is absolutely something that we have insights on and that we will pursue going forward.” /11
If you have access behind our paywall, you can read my story about it here.
https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/weaponizing-c-17s-c-130s-arsenal-planes-under-review">https://aviationweek.com/defense-s...
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https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/weaponizing-c-17s-c-130s-arsenal-planes-under-review">https://aviationweek.com/defense-s...
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