#Elmendorf Air Force Base

[pedroam-bang]

Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald - Two F-22 Raptors fly over the Pacific Ocean during a theater security mission (2009)

[military1st]

Locked, loaded, and ready for action!

This U.S. Marine is pushing through the wilderness during the intense 4th Marine Division Super Squad 2019 competition at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Days of pure grit, endurance, and teamwork – proving that when the going gets tough, the Marines just keep going.

The United States Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña (2019).

[usafphantom2]

F-22s conduct a missing man formation flyover in remembrance of Air Force Staff Sgt. Charles A. Crumlett at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 22, 2024. (lebens)

@kadonkey via X

[aviationgeek71]

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 3rd Wing takes off above Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 13, 2024.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.22 (after 1930)

1934 – The Gresford disaster in Wales kills 266 miners and rescuers. 1939 – World War II: A joint German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk is held to celebrate the successful invasion of Poland. 1941 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: On the Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murders 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed. 1948 – Gail Halvorsen officially starts parachuting candy to children as part of the Berlin Airlift. 1948 – Israeli-Palestine conflict: The All-Palestine Government is established by the Arab League. 1953 – The Four Level Interchange, first stack interchange in the world opened in Los Angeles. 1957 – In Haiti, François Duvalier is elected president. 1960 – The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation. 1965 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 between India and Pakistan over Kashmir ends after the United Nations calls for a ceasefire. 1966 – Twenty-four people are killed when Ansett-ANA Flight 149 crashes in Winton, Queensland, Australia. 1975 – Sara Jane Moore tries to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is foiled by the Secret Service. 1979 – A bright flash, resembling the detonation of a nuclear weapon, is observed near the Prince Edward Islands. Its cause is never determined. 1980 – Iraq invades Iran, sparking the nearly eight year Iran–Iraq War. 1981 – During a military exercise, a Turkish Air Force Northrop F-5 crashes in Babaeski as a result of pilot error, killing one crew member and also 65 soldiers on the ground. 1991 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time. 1993 – A barge strikes a railroad bridge near Mobile, Alabama, causing the deadliest train wreck in Amtrak history. Forty-seven passengers are killed. 1993 – A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia. 1995 – An E-3B AWACS crashes outside Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska after multiple bird strikes to two of the four engines soon after takeoff; all 24 on board are killed. 1995 – The Nagerkovil school bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force in which at least 34 die, most of them ethnic Tamil schoolchildren. 2006 – Twenty-three people were killed in a maglev train collision in Lathen, Germany. 2013 – At least 75 people are killed in a suicide bombing at a Christian church in Peshawar, Pakistan.

[67-romeo]

A U.S. Army AH-64D Apache assigned to 1-25th Attack Battalion, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, flies during the Joint Forces Demonstration at the Arctic Thunder Open House at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, last month.

📸 U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Julia Lebens, JB Elmendorf-Richardson

⁠

#ah64 #ah64d #ah64apache #apachehelicopter #attackhelicopter #combathelicopter #heli #helicopter #helicopters #boeing #militaryaviation #military #armyaviation #aviation #avgeek #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #airplane #instaaviation #instapilot #helicopterpilot #instagramaviation #aviationpictures #aviationdaily #helicoptersofinstagram #usarmy #usarmyaviation #25CAB #attack #attackaviation

[georgemcginn]

DOD Featured Photos

Stronger Together Marines participate in a squad competition at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 20, 2023, to test … Photo Details > Lights on the Layup Air Force Airman 1st Class Romer Ferguson shoots a layup during the Washington Wizards’ Military App… Photo Details > Heavenly Hues Soldiers participate in airborne operations over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Dec. 8, 20… Photo…

[ultrajaphunter]

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 3rd Wing conducts flight operations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Sept. 28, 2023. (by SrA Julia Lebens)

[heathermehf]

DVIDS – Video – B-52s in JBER: Arrival

[militarymetalart]

Protect our homeland, project joint forces, and power the joint base! Stood up in 2010, the 673d Air Base Wing today comprises over 5,500 joint military and civilian personnel, supports and enables America’s Arctic Warriors and their families. In addition, the wing provides medical care to over 35,000 joint service members, dependents, Veterans Affairs patients, and retirees throughout Alaska. The 673d ABW maintains $15 billion in infrastructure encompassing 85,000 acres, ensuring Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson remains America’s premier strategic power projection platform. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpoZlOdMiCY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[defensenow]

One joint base, two Air Force wings, 240 Airmen: how relationships helped form an AEW to validate ACE in the Pacific

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs | Story by Maj. Clay Lancaster | Tuesday, March 7, 2023

[military1st]

U.S. Army paratrooper during Exercise Arctic Aloha at Malemute Drop Zone, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

The U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña (2023).

[usafphantom2]

U.S. Air Force Awards RTX $1 Billion Contract to Upgrade F-22 Sensors

The contract follows the recent news about the tests of new advanced sensors on the F-22 Raptor, which the U.S. Air Force is planning to field quickly as part of the ongoing upgrade program.

Parth Satam

F-22 new sensors contract

An F-22 Raptor takes off from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, June 30, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Zachary Rufus)

Amid the acute need for 5th generation fighters in modern combat scenarios against peer adversaries, the U.S. Air Force is looking to upgrade its F-22 Raptor with a series of sensors to make it more survivable and relevant. The service announced on Aug. 29, 2024, the award of a $1 billion contract to RTX‘s Raytheon for new sensors that are categorized as “Group B hardware”, together with spares and support equipment.

“Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be completed by May 8, 2029,” said the DoD contracts statement. The Aviationist had recently reported that the Air Force was testing new sensors on the F-22 to extend its service life, which would also be applied to the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) family of systems.

That report also quoted Brig. Gen. Jason D. Voorheis, the Program Executive Officer for Fighter and Advanced Aircraft, who said they were hoping to field these sensors faster. The Raptor team had conducted six flight tests to demonstrate the advanced sensors.

“The F-22 team is working really hard on executing a modernization roadmap to field advanced sensors, connectivity, weapons, and other capabilities. We’re executing that successfully, and that will lead to […] a rapid fielding in the near future.” This would be done through a Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) program.

Some of the sensors included in the contract could be the stealthy pods seen on the F-22. Air and Space Forces earlier quoted officials who confirmed that the pods host IRST (Infrared Search and Track) sensors. The development of a new IRST sensor for the Raptor was also confirmed by the service’s 2025 budget request, which however did not mention the sensor being podded.

This work is part of an F-22 improvement campaign that calls for $7.8 billion in investments before 2030, which includes $3.1 billion for research and development and $4.7 billion in procurement.

An F-22 Raptor with the Air Combat Command F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team performs a flyover and air demonstration at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug 13, 2024. (U.S Air Force Photo by Trevor Cokley)

F-22’s future in the U.S. Air Force

The development is also in contrast with previously reported USAF plans to retire the older F-22 airframes, for which it had sought approval from the Congress. These F-22s are 32 Block 20 units from a total fleet of 186. At the same time, the service aims to upgrade the remaining 154 with new cryptography, an expanded open architecture, new weapons and an advanced threat warning receiver, beside the IRST.

However, the service now appears to be reconsidering that plan, after Voorheis was quoted in the ASF report: “From an F-22 sunsetting perspective, I don’t have a date for you.” “What I can tell you is that we are hyper-focused on modernization to sustain that air superiority combat capability for a highly contested environment for as long as necessary,” he added.

IMAGE 3: A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 3rd Wing takes off above Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jun. 17, 2024. (Image credit: USAF/Senior Airman Julia Lebens)

The U.S. Air Force describes the Raptor as a combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distance. Initially introduced as an air-superiority-only asset, the F-22 later started performing both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.

The F-35 is largely a strike fighter and an airborne sensor-fusion and data-processing capable command post in its tactical orientation. But the Raptor is a pure air dominance interceptor. Although costly to upgrade and maintain, it nevertheless can play an important role in degrading adversary air power through either long-range BVR (Beyond Visual Range) and dogfights.

Moreover, having F-22s also increases the number of LO (Low Observable) aircraft in the inventory, at least until more F-35s are available, especially the TR-3 (Technology Refresh-3) Block 4 upgraded variants.

In 2021 too, then Air Force chief General Charles Q. Brown Jr. revealed his “4+1” fighter plan, suggesting the F-22 to be replaced by the NGAD while retaining the F-35, F-15E and EX, and the F-16. The “plus 1” was the A-10, but in March 2023, Brown said the A-10s were being retired faster than expected and the entire fleet would possibly be divested by 2030.

Meanwhile the NGAD’s future itself is uncertain after U.S.A.F have noted its technical complexity and financial implications. The F-22 thus seems to be back in the running.

On Jul. 10, 2024, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said during a Mitchell Institute event that the service has no official plan to retire its F-22 Raptors. “Right now, there’s…frankly isn’t an F-22 replacement and the F-22 is a fantastic aircraft,” said Wilsbach. “I’m in favor of keeping the Block 20s. They give us a lot of training value, and even if we had to in an emergency use the Block 20s in a combat situation, they’re very capable.”

F-22 Indonesia

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors assigned to the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, conduct Dynamic Force Employment operations at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Air Force Base, Indonesia, on Aug. 6, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mitchell Corley)

Other known F-22 upgrades

Other upgrades mentioned in the 2025 budget request are a Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), Link 16, a Multifunction Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS), a new Operational Fight Program, advanced radar Electronic Protection and an Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) Modernization (EGI-M).

Voorheis also mentioned the GRACE (Government Reference Architecture Compute Environment) software that would allow “non-traditional F-22 software” to be installed on the aircraft and provide “additional processing and pilot interfaces.”

A new helmet is also being tested, as part of the Next Generation Fixed Wing Helmet program to replace the current 40-year-old HGU-55P headgear. The new helmet would also allow the introduction of helmet-mounted devices which provide essential flight and weapon aiming information through line of sight imagery, easing the workload of the pilots.

About Parth Satam

Parth Satam's career spans a decade and a half between two dailies and two defense publications. He believes war, as a human activity, has causes and results that go far beyond which missile and jet flies the fastest. He therefore loves analyzing military affairs at their intersection with foreign policy, economics, technology, society and history. The body of his work spans the entire breadth from defense aerospace, tactics, military doctrine and theory, personnel issues, West Asian, Eurasian affairs, the energy sector and Space.

@Theaviationist.com

[opedguy]

Biden on Roll, Shoots Down UFO

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 10, 2023.--On a roll from his Feb. 7 State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress, 80-year-old President Joe Biden ordered the shoot-down of another Unidentified Flying Object [UFO] this time over icy waters in Deadhorse, Alaska on Prudhoe Bay.  Biden was notified of the UFO Thursday morning, deciding, unlike the shoot-down of a 2,000-poind Chinese balloon Friday, Feb. 10, Biden acted decisively ordering the downing of the unmanned aerial vehicle.  Once the Pentagon determined the balloon-like object was unmanned, Biden wasted no time ordering an F-22 from Join Base Elmendorf to take doown the unknown object, about the size of a small car, with a sidewinder missile, the same one used last Saturday Feb. 4.  Biden was rejuvenated by his State of the Union, getting high marks from Democrats, but, more importantly, showed he can still work a crowd at his advanced age.

Last weeks delayed response, letting the Chinese spy balloon drift methodically over Alaska, Canada, Idaho, Montana all the way across the U.S. generated much-deserved criticism, especially with the spy-craft monitoring U.S. nuclear Air Force bases across the continental United States.  Biden said he didn’t want to jeopardize any civilians on the ground, before shooting down the balloon over shallow waters in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Biden faced criticism from his GOP colleagues for not acting more decisively, though Democrats pointed out quickly that similar Chinese spy balloons flew into U.S. air space during the Trump administration.  Trump didn’t order a shoot down because the balloon quickly left U.S. air space.  Biden ordered the shoot down today over Deadhorse, Alaska, claiming that the UFO presented a danger at 40,000 feet to commercial air flights.

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby didn’t have much to report, other than a UFO was shot down over Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.  “All I can say is that it wasn’t flying with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon like’—we just don’t enough at this point,” Kirby said.  “It came in, inside our territorial waters, those waters right now are frozen, but inside territorial air space and over territorial waters.  Fighter aircraft assigned to the U.S. Northern Command took down the object with the last hour,” Kirby reported.  No country, including China, has claimed responsibility for what looks like another spy balloon, prompting Biden to shoot first, wait to see whether any recovered debris identifies the country of origin.  Two spy balloons in one week certainly raises eyebrows, even if the Pentagon can’t confirm the nature or origin of the flying object.  “We don’t know who owns this object,” Kirby said.

Like the Chinese spy balloon shot down Feb. 4, the object did not to have any guidance or propulsion.  “It did not appear to have maneuverability capability, “ Kirby said.  “It was virtually at the whim of the wind.” Kirby confirmed that a fighter pilot was up in the sky on Feb. 9, determining the that the balloon-like object had no human on board, before Biden gave the order Friday, 1:45 p.m. to shoot it down.  “We were able to get some fighter aircraft up and around it before the order to shoot it down.  And the pilots’ assessment was that this was not manned,” Kirby said.  “There was a limit to how much they could divine,” including whether the object was booby-trapped with explosives.  Pentagon officials hoped to recover the debris off the ice and determine the nature and origin of the UFO.  Biden’s decision to shoot it down stemmed directly from last week’s delay in taking down the Chinese balloon.

Pentagon officials think last week’s shoot down of the Chinese spy balloon won’t impact U.S.-Chinese relations in the scheme of things.  China reacted harshly to the shoot down, saying the U.S. showed “indiscriminate aggression.”  China insisted that it’s weather balloon posed no threat at all to U.S. national security.  Pentagon officials haven’t yet determined or said publicly what if any national security issues were compromised by the spy-craft that spend six days flying over U.S. nuclear and stealth bomber bases in Montana and Missouri.  No one knows what, if anything, the Chinese got after from the surveillance balloon.  Pentagon officials said the Chinese already monitor U.S. air bases from a network of space-based satellites, not sure they would get more intel from a spy balloon.  Two balloon incidents in one week suggest a correlation between the events.

Biden has a wind at his back following a commanding performance at the State of the Union speech.  If there’s anything to glean from today’s shoot down, Biden has more confidence than ever as he prepares to announce he’s running for reelection in 2024.  Anyone listening to the speech knows that it was a campaign speech, not a typical State of the Union message.  Biden touted his big spending bills that he claims have benefited the U.S. economy, despite the runaway inflation that makes life harder for most working people.  Biden cast himself as a champion of U.S. workers, despite the economic challenges from rising prices.  Shooting down the UFO over Alaska reflects Biden’s new confidence after Tuesday night’s speech. Pentagon officials should know soon the nature and origin of the car-sized balloon.  Shooting it down without hesitation speaks volumes about Biden’s future plans.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.22 (after 1940)

1941 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: On the Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murders 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed. 1948 – Gail Halvorsen officially starts parachuting candy to children as part of the Berlin Airlift. 1948 – Israeli-Palestine conflict: The All-Palestine Government is established by the Arab League. 1957 – In Haiti, François Duvalier is elected president. 1960 – The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation. 1965 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 between India and Pakistan over Kashmir ends after the United Nations calls for a ceasefire. 1966 – Twenty-four people are killed when Ansett-ANA Flight 149 crashes in Winton, Queensland, Australia. 1975 – Sara Jane Moore tries to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is foiled by the Secret Service. 1979 – A bright flash, resembling the detonation of a nuclear weapon, is observed near the Prince Edward Islands. Its cause is never determined. 1980 – Iraq invades Iran, sparking the nearly eight year Iran–Iraq War. 1991 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time. 1993 – A barge strikes a railroad bridge near Mobile, Alabama, causing the deadliest train wreck in Amtrak history. Forty-seven passengers are killed. 1993 – A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia. 1995 – An E-3B AWACS crashes outside Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska after multiple bird strikes to two of the four engines soon after takeoff; all 24 on board are killed. 1995 – The Nagerkovil school bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force in which at least 34 die, most of them ethnic Tamil schoolchildren. 2006 – Twenty-three people were killed in a maglev train collision in Lathen, Germany. 2013 – At least 75 people are killed in a suicide bombing at a Christian church in Peshawar, Pakistan.

[college-girl199328]

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly made the decision to shoot down an unidentified object violating Canadian airspace, according to statements released Saturday.

After the North American Aerospace Defense Command discovered the cylindrical object Friday evening, Canadian and U.S. jets intercepted it, and a U.S. F-22--deployed for the third time this week—shot it down Saturday afternoon.

Biden and Trudeau to shoot down the object “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries,” a White House statement said.

The latest incident comes a day after another F-22 downed an unidentified cylindrical object over Alaskan airspace, which is currently being recovered by the U.S. military near the Alaskan town of Deadhorse.

The intercepts follow the cross-country saga earlier this month when a Chinese surveillance balloon overflew the U.S. from Montana to South Carolina before it was downed over the Atlantic.

The U.S. Defense Department confirmed that NORAD detected the object over Alaska on Friday evening; Canadian authorities conducted recovery operations to help learn more about the entity; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be working closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Anita Anand, Canada's defense minister, said in a tweet on Saturday that she and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had discussed the incident and "will always defend our sovereignty together."

The Canadian defence minister said it appeared to be a small cylindrical object, smaller than the one that was shot down off the coast of North Carolina last week at roughly 40,000 feet and posed a “reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” she said.

Anand said it was downed at 3:41 p.m. ET, about 100 miles from the U.S.-Canada border in central Yukon, and Canadian aircraft were involved in the operation. American F-22s were launched from the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, and Canadian F-18s from Cold Lake, and Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre confirmed an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile from the F-22 downed the object.

Anand did not confirm if the object was from China, saying it was too early to determine where it came from. Anand had met with Austin in Washington on Friday, when the spy balloon shot down over the Carolinas was on the agenda and was primarily tracked and analyzed through NORAD, she told reporters during a morning briefing. "Last year, we announced the upgrade to our continental defence and NORAD, about C$40 billion [$30 billion]," she added. "This incident highlights the importance of that initiative."

That upgrade focuses on improving NORAD’s ability to detect and track intrusions into North American airspace, the assistant secretary for homeland defence and hemispheric affairs told a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) commended the U.S. Air Force personnel who shot down the unidentified object in Canadian airspace and called for a redoubling of efforts “to recover, exploit, and analyze the unidentified aircraft shot down over Alaska and Canada… to fully understand the nature of the threat we are facing right now,” in a tweet on Saturday.

The FAA announced late Saturday it had closed some airspace above Montana for Defense Department activities in a statement that said it had detected a “radar anomaly” and sent fighter jets to investigate what was identified that correlated to the radar hits, NORAD said.

Montana Sens. Steve Daines and John Tester said they were in contact with Pentagon officials over the incident.

Asked why there were seemingly more balloon downings and related incidents recently, a U.S. official said: “We are being more vigilant now.”

Recoveries of the Chinese balloon in the Atlantic and the unidentified craft over Alaska are still ongoing work in the High North is being hampered by adverse weather conditions.

White House and Pentagon officials still do not have a positive identification or country of origin for the object shot down over Alaska, a Chinese-made surveillance balloon like the one that was struck off the coast of South Carolina.