From: CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>
Subject: AF News Svc 08/17/92
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 16:34:17 GMT


From CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>



658.  B-1B cracks
659.  Redefining airlift
660.  ARS reorganization
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658.  B-1B cracks
     LANGLEY AFB, Va. (AFNS) -- The Air Force has temporarily restricted
flights for 24 B-1Bs after cracks were found in the nose gear strut, Air
Combat Command officials said Aug. 13.
     All B-1 bombers are being inspected following the discovery of two small
cracks on a plane undergoing maintenance Aug. 10.  Ninety aircraft have been
checked so far.
     For safety reasons, all B-1Bs with cracks longer than three quarters of
an inch will not fly training missions until the cracks are repaired.  The
aircraft affected are still available for operational wartime taskings and all
other B-1Bs will keep flying normal missions.
     The cracks were discovered during towing at the maintenance depot and are
thought to be caused by towing operations, officials said.


659.  Redefining airlift
by TSgt. David P. Masko
Air Force News Service
     WASHINGTON -- The general who supervises the acquisition of the C-17
program at the Pentagon believes Desert Storm confirmed the need for the new
airlifter that will generate greater global effectiveness.
     Maj. Gen. Patrick P. Caruana, director of strategic, special operations
forces and airlift programs, said the C-17 could have reduced the time it took
to get U.S. forces to the Persian Gulf, and could have delivered more cargo in
the time it took the C-141, C-5 and C-130 fleet to deliver almost 100,000
tons.
     "In the first 45 days, if we had replaced the 117 C-141s with 80 C-17s,
we would have been able to deliver 28,000 tons more cargo in the same 45-day
period," Caruana said in an Aug. 13 interview with Air Force News Service.
     "Or we could have done the tonnage that we did in 45 days in 35 days, 10
days fewer.
     "In addition, the capability to fly into smaller airfields gives it an
intra-theater capability.  We would have been able to lift 11,000 more tons of
cargo within the theater, which was the equivalent of one 16-airplane squadron
of C-130s."  In short, the C-17 can deliver the same cargo as four C-130s.
     During the Gulf war, Caruana served as director of strategic forces, U.S.
Central Air Forces.  And as a planner of the Desert Storm air campaign, he
said he saw the region's airlift needs firsthand.
     A recently completed mobility requirements study, referenced in a report
by the secretary of the Air Force, recommends the Air Force reach an airlift
capacity of 57 million tons miles per day by the end of this decade.
     This level reflects the demands of a defense strategy built around the
threat of major regional contingencies and the need for the C-17 force, the
report said.
     The C-17 will save manpower because of a modernized cockpit and on-board
systems that only require a three-person crew -- pilot, co-pilot and
loadmaster.  By comparison, a C-5 requires a six-person crew.
     Furthermore, the C-17 can land and maneuver on shorter runways that are
too short for airlifters such as the C-141 and C-5.  Because of this
capability, the C-17 will give the Air Force access to thousands of additional
airfields around the world.
     This agility, remarkable for an aircraft its size, is due in large part
to advanced propulsion lift technology.  The additional lift gives the C-17
greater maneuverability at low speeds and steeper ascents and descents, making
short-field operations relatively safe and routine.
     It is also the first strategic airlifter that can routinely taxi backward
without help from tow vehicles.  The C-17 is able to back up on a runway when
fully loaded.
     "The airlifter of the future will need to be more flexible, able to
operate in the austere environment of short, semi-improved fields, delivering
cargo directly to the battle in an increasingly complex threat environment,"
said Gen. Hansford T. Johnson, commander, Air Mobility Command and U.S.
Transportation Command.
     "The C-17 is that airlifter."
     The Air Force expects a much reduced operating cost for the C-17 over any
of the large airlifters in the inventory, Caruana said.
     The cost for the overall C-17 program is $35 billion.
     Since 1965, the backbone of the Air Force's long-range airlift fleet has
been the C-141.  For a quarter of a century it enabled the United States to
support a policy of forward presence and to provide global response to crises
and disasters.
     However, the C-141 is reaching the end of its operational life.  For
instance, the C-141 fleet has flown more than twice the number of hours of any
other military aircraft -- averaging 33,000 hours per airframe.
     "We've been using them (C-141s) much more aggressively than we had
anticipated," Caruana said.  "We burned up a lot of hours and time on the
C-141s during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
     "In terms of cargo capacity, the C-17 is a wide body.  What we can get in
a C-17 vs. a C-141 is out-sized cargo.  You can certainly get much larger
items in a C-17 than a C-141."
     Even with the record-breaking work done by the C-141 and C-5 during the
Gulf War, Caruana said, the Air Force will need to begin passing the
responsibility for responsive airlift to the C-17 over the next six to eight
years.
     As each C-17 comes on line, the Air Force will be able to retire a C-141
and immediately gain an increased ability to deliver out-sized cargo to small,
austere air fields, he said.
     "We'll start next year retiring C-141s out of the Air Force inventory.
And that's why this airplane (C-17) is so important to us, because for every
C-141 that we retire, that's less airlift capability available to our nation."
     In slightly more than 10 months of flying, the three C-17 test aircraft
-- dubbed T-1, P-1 and P-2 -- had recorded a total of 382 flying hours as of
Aug. 10.
     T-1 had flown 90 missions for 294.5 hours.  P-1, and P-2, the first two
production aircraft, had flown 14 missions for 52.3 hours, and 11 missions for
35.7 hours, respectively.
     T-1 flew for the first time Sept. 15, 1991, after six years of full-scale
development.
     A fourth C-17, P-3, is more than 96 percent complete and is scheduled to
join the test fleet soon.
     All totaled, six C-17s will enter the flight test program with the
seventh flying aircraft, P-6, scheduled for direct delivery to Air Mobility
Command's first C-17 base, Charleston AFB, S.C.  The first C-17 will arrive at
Charleston early next year.
     The Air Force plans to buy 120 C-17s before the end of the decade.
     Although Caruana said the Air Force is very pleased with the test program
thus far, he concedes that the C-17 has had more than its share of controversy
because some critics have only focused on the plane's troubles rather than
looking at its good points.
     "For example, the fixes that we have in the early production airplanes to
correct fuel leak problems have proven that we have a handle on leaks, and the
follow-on airplanes will be taken care of through the normal production
schedule," Caruana said.
     "What I'd like to put to bed is that first of all the airplane is
structurally sound," he said.  "Furthermore, the C-17 is an easy airplane to
fly.  Any pilot would be able to do a great job with it."


660.  ARS reorganization
     SCOTT AFB, Ill. (AFNS) -- The Air Force is reorganizing Air Rescue
Service forces in an effort to more closely align combat missions and simplify
command lines, Air Mobility Command officials said.
     All continental U.S. rescue forces will transfer to Air Combat Command,
effective Jan. 1.  The exception is the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron,
McClellan AFB, Calif., which will stay with AMC.
     ACC will also become responsible for fleet management, and development of
multi-command guidance for rescue helicopter and tanker assets.
     Air Force theater major commands will control the overseas rescue forces.
     Gaining commands for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard Air Rescue
Service units will also change Jan. 1, to match the active-duty units,
officials said.
     ACC will get the stateside forces while Kulis ANGB, Alaska, will fall
under Pacific Air Forces.  The 815th Airlift Squadron and 403rd Medical
Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss., will stay with Air Mobility Command.
     The Air Rescue Service is responsible for search and rescue activities
and has helped save more than 24,000 lives since its establishment in 1946.
     The AMC commander, through the rescue service commander, acts as the
executive agent for the Air Force chief of staff on search and rescue matters
within the 48 contiguous states.  The matters are handled through the Air
Force Rescue Coordination Center at Scott.
     ARS is also administratively responsible for the PACAF and European
rescue coordination centers, and the U.S. Southern Command rescue
coordinators.  (Courtesy, AMC News Service)

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    |            Air Force News Agency (AFNEWS)                        | 
    |           Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA                       | 
    |               bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil                            |  
    |__________________________________________________________________|  



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