May 15, 2024 - No. 20 In This Issue : NASA Stuck in the Middle of Starliner Contractors’ Valve Fight ; Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium : Navy T-45C Goshawk Test Aircraft Return to Flight After Operational Pause : DARPA taps Aurora to keep designing heavy cargo seaplane in $8.3M deal : Dreamliner nightmare? Boeing 787 safety concerns raised : GoJet Receives FAA Part 145 Certification : Boom's XB-1 supersonic jet has been authorized to break the speed of sound : 'Lost' satellite found after orbiting undetected for 25 years : Airlift invention by Airmen saves Air Force time, money : 51st LRS conducts first-ever 51st FW wet-wing defuel mission NASA Stuck in the Middle of Starliner Contractors’ Valve Fight By Tim Fernholz May 10, 2024 Astronaut Suni Williams on the crew access tower before boarding the Starliner on May 6. Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky. The loser of a court battle over valve designs went scorched earth this week, with ValveTech CEO Erin Faville publicly urging NASA to cancel the launch of Boeing’s crewed Starliner “due to the risk of a disaster.” The space agency had already made the decision to delay the mission to replace a valve in the second stage of the ULA Atlas V rocket that will carry the first crewed Starliner to orbit. Engineers determined that the valve, which had been “buzzing” before launch, exceeded the number of cyclings it had been qualified to perform. It’s rare for rival space companies to call out each other—or NASA—when launch vehicles are facing issues on the pad. The agency has long insisted that safety is its top priority. ValveTech’s surprising allegations stem from a long-running court battle that came to an end this week. The dispute: In 2011, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne—now known as Aerojet Rocketdyne, a division of L3 Harris—hired ValveTech to build valves for the Starliner’s propulsion system. After disputes over design between the two firms, Aerojet ended the relationship in 2017; ValveTech sued the company for violating NDAs and misusing its trade secrets to design new valves. After years of motions, depositions, and a trial, a jury found in November that Aerojet had violated NDAs with ValveTech, but hadn’t misappropriated any trade secrets. ValveTech was awarded $850,000 in damages, but it sought further restrictions on Aerojet and court fees. On May 6, a US District Court judge denied those motions and closed the case. Faville, who says her company supplied other valves for Starliner, told Payload she has concerns that Aerojet-built valves on Starliner were not properly qualified for human flight, which she has communicated to the space agency and Boeing. A Boeing spokesperson said the valves “meet all NASA and Boeing requirements,” and that NASA and Boeing are focused on safety in determining when Starliner will fly. “ValveTech’s speculation about the cause of the scrub on Monday night is inaccurate and irresponsible,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The wrong valve. The problem on this particular mission wasn’t in the Starliner capsule, but in its launch vehicle. While Starliner has suffered valve leaks before, which led to a dispute between Boeing and Aerojet in 2022, the ULA-built Centaur is a different machine altogether. ULA CEO Tory Bruno responded to Faville’s allegations on Twitter: “Close to none of it is correct: Not urgent. Not leaking. Etc. Remarkable that the particular person quoted doesn’t seem to know how this type of valve works…” Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium Published May 9, 2024 By Senior Airman Greydon Furstenau MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) -- Military and civilian leaders from across the Department of the Air Force recently convened at Air University to discuss the emerging role of artificial intelligence in future warfighting. These discussions took place at the Air University Symposium, “Harnessing AI for Information Advantage” event, hosted at Maxwell Air Force Base May 1-2. The symposium focused primarily on the potential benefits of AI and how it will shape the information advantage in future conflicts. Key discussion topics included the coming AI revolution, identifying the threats and potential promises of AI in military applications, developing future AI-capable warfighters and how to reoptimize current strategies by incorporating AI in an era of Great Power Competition. Military and civilian leaders from across the Department of the Air Force convened at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., May 1-2, 2024, to discuss the emerging role of artificial intelligence in future warfighting. (U.S. Air Force graphic) PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES “Air University is meeting the challenges and benefits posed by AI head on,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Tipton, LeMay Center deputy director of Strategy and Concepts. “For example, in the flying community, pilots develop 'air sense,' an intuitive grasp of their aircraft's behavior through experience. It’s about feeling beyond the visible, sensing what might be amiss. We face a similar challenge with artificial intelligence: How can we cultivate an 'AI sense' in Airmen? It's about training them to not only understand the data but also to intuitively recognize when something doesn't seem quite right.” Keynote speakers at the symposium included Casey Mock from the Center for Humane Technology who discussed risks associated with generative AI and deception, and author Paul Scharre who discussed excerpts from his book, “Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” Other presenters included subject matter experts from Department of the Air Force AI Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Institute of Technology, Eglin Flight Test Squadron, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Headquarters Air Force Chief Digital and AI Office, China Aerospace Studies Institute, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and others. The symposium also facilitated networking opportunities, enabling Air Force leaders to meet and engage with top experts in the AI-career field from across academia, think tanks and industry with the common goal of exploring the AI technology that will change the way the military views AI and ultimately inform Air Force doctrine. In addition to the main symposium, an Air University research showcase was hosted at the historic Kress Building in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, on May 1, where participants from across Air University presented projects to highlight the cutting-edge research taking place at Maxwell AFB. Here, students interacted directly with senior military leaders while discussing how AI can be used to address complex challenges, fuel innovation while enhancing safety and security. This provided a platform for students to discuss their findings and demonstrate their learning directly to key military leaders. “We aimed to distill some of the noise surrounding this topic and go straight to the truth about AI. The media offers various portrayals, but we focused on showing the actual situation — our current position and our ongoing efforts,” Tipton said. “This approach enabled direct dialogue between AI practitioners and the MAJCOM [major command] commander.” As AI advances, it will continue to play a critical role in optimizing defense strategies in support of great power competition. The Air University AI Symposium is just one of the steps being taken to tackle these significant challenges while providing an overview of how AI is impacting the defense establishment. Navy T-45C Goshawk Test Aircraft Return to Flight After Operational Pause HEATHER MONGILIO MAY 10, 2024 4:00 PM A T-45 Goshawk, assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, prepares to land on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) on Jan. 20, 2020. US Navy Photo The Navy resumed using the T-45C Goshawk test aircraft on Thursday, the service announced Friday. Of the 149 aircraft in the fleet, 104 are now in flight status, while the remaining 45 are in maintenance to be released back to flight status, according to a Navy news release. The T-45C Goshawk fleet was placed on an operational pause in April after an engine malfunctioned on one of the training jets belonging to Training Air Wing One, USNI News previously reported. The engine malfunction was related to a blade fault, USNI News reported at the time. No injuries were reported. The blade failure may have been due to a manufacturing defect on a low-pressure compressor blade, the Navy said in Friday’s release. “The T-45s that were returned to flight status contain blades that have been meticulously and methodically inspected as well as blades produced by a different manufacturer that have more than 1.6 million flight hours without a similar manufacturing defect observed. The Navy has returned more than 85 percent of T-45 engines to service,” reads the release. The T-45C Goshawk is the primary platform used by the Navy and Marine Corps to train aircraft carrier pilots. The Navy is considering replacing the aging class, which the services have used since the 1990s. The T-45C was also put on a safety pause in 2022 for two weeks after a blade failure in the turbofan engine. DARPA taps Aurora to keep designing heavy cargo seaplane in $8.3M deal By Stephen Losey Friday, May 10, 2024 Aurora Flight Sciences tweaked its original Liberty Lifter design to move floats to its wingtips and adjust its tail to better accommodate its aft cargo door. (Aurora Flight Sciences) Aurora Flight Sciences will continue designing an experimental heavy cargo seaplane for the U.S. military, which has now officially dropped General Atomics’ pitch for the Liberty Lifter aircraft program. The Pentagon announced Thursday that Aurora, a subsidiary of Boeing based in Manassas, Virginia, has received an $8.3 million contract modification to keep working on its mobility seaplane design. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in February 2023 selected Aurora and General Atomics for the program, officially called the Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect. DARPA originally envisioned Liberty Lifter as having about the same size and capacity of a massive C-17 Globemaster mobility aircraft, but has since scaled back the demonstrator program to about the size of a C-130 Hercules. But DARPA’s budget documents for fiscal 2025 show that a future Liberty Lifter aircraft could be built to roughly a C-17′s scale once there’s proof the concept works. The Globemaster’s wingspan is more than 169 feet, its length 174 feet and its height about 55 feet. It can carry 170,900 pounds of cargo. In comparison, the Hercules’ wingspan is more than 132 feet. The longest of the variants is about 97 feet, and the tallest is about 38 feet. One variant can carry a payload of 44,500 pounds. Liberty Lifter is also intended to be able to take off and land in sea state 4, or weather conditions that produce waves of up to about 8 feet, and could sustain operations even in sea state 5, or rough waves of up to 13 feet. General Atomics proposed a version of Liberty Lifter with an unorthodox twin-hull design, which was intended to make the aircraft more stable on water. Concept art of General Atomics’ design showed the plane’s noses would have lifted up to deploy cargo and allowed vehicles to directly roll onto a beach. Aurora’s design was closer to a traditional flying boat aircraft with a single hull and high wings that angled down at the ends. In January, Aurora released an image of its updated design, which had moved the aircraft’s floats to its wingtips and changed its tail design. Aurora said the new tail, which would be shaped like the symbol for pi, would better accommodate the plane’s aft cargo door. DARPA’s Liberty Lifter manager, Christopher Kent, told Defense News in a statement that the program needed to move efficiently “to create transformational change,” and that General Atomics’ design could not meet its ambitious goals. “When we reached the point where we realized only one performer was meeting our aggressive schedule and technical goals, we streamlined the program to continue to deliver innovation” as soon as possible, Kent said when asked why DARPA did not continue including General Atomics. DARPA ultimately chose not to proceed with General Atomics' dual-hull design for Liberty Lifter. (General Atomics) C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesman for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, said in an email to Defense News that the company wants to continue working with DARPA on other programs and wishes the Liberty Lifter program success. “I think we all recognize the Liberty Lifter concept represents a real technological shift for future combat operations, and we made a strong proposal informed by a lot of experience and expertise,” Brinkley said. “You always want to win and keep working on these things, but more than that we just want to see the program thrive and deliver a unique capability for the warfighter and the nation.” Aurora Flight Sciences declined to comment on the contract modification. The company is working on the aircraft with ReconCraft, a shipyard based in Oregon that has expertise with maritime manufacturing, and Leidos subsidiary Gibbs and Cox, a naval architecture and marine engineering company. Aurora will now continue to design its Liberty Lifter and reduce its risk as it gets ready for a preliminary design review in early 2025, DARPA said. If the design review is successful, DARPA noted Aurora will continue refining the design and then build its Liberty Lifter. After that point, DARPA said, Aurora will float, fly and then demonstrate Liberty Lifter’s capabilities, with its first flight intended to occur in late 2027 or early 2028. Dreamliner nightmare? Boeing 787 safety concerns raised By Stacker Published May 9, 2024 7:44 PM Dreamliner nightmare? Boeing 787 safety concerns raised A Boeing 787 photographed high in the sky. Boeing had the worst start to 2024 when a mid-air blowout happened on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 while flying at around 16,000 ft. Well, it could be more nightmarish for the American aircraft manufacturer. The latest threat is in the form of a whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, who has been working with the company since 2007, alleging that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner isn’t safe. The statement gained the interest of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which had qualms about the company’s manufacturing procedures after the mid-air blowout incident on the 737 Max 9. Now, with Sam Salehpour having testified before a Senate subcommittee on April 17, is Boeing going to be in more trouble? This article from Way.com will take you through Salehpour’s revelations on the safety of the Boeing Dreamliner, the subsequent developments, and more on the aircraft. Sam Salehpour’s Whistleblowing Salehpour, who works as a quality engineer in the company, claimed that the fuselage of some Boeing 787 Dreamliners wasn’t properly fastened together. The error could lead the aircraft to tear open while in air after thousands of trips. He further said that many employees used “excessive stress” on vital parts to make it look as if there were no gaps between the metal components. He said that the company was doing this to make aircraft swiftly and has been doing this for years to meet production goals. However, he alleged that the lifespan of the aircraft could be shorter. Salehpour was responsible for examining defects and developing strategies to avoid issues in the production line. He also claimed that he addressed the concerns about the aircraft’s safety to higher authorities. But he was ignored, and they put him in the 777 program. Alaska Airlines Incident: The Turning Point Though reassigned to another program, Salehpour claimed that he reported his concerns. He alleged that a supervisor scared him with the threat of physical violence when he did so. It was when the mid-air blowout happened on an Alaska Airlines Flight in January that he decided to file a complaint with the FAA via his attorney, Debra Katz. He wanted to avoid the catastrophic damage that could happen to these aircraft due to the alleged production issues. The letter sent by Salehpour’s lawyers to the FAA also claims that he even found faults in the assembly process of Boeing 777. FAA’s Stand on Boeing Dreamliner After Salehpour claimed that the fuselage of some Dreamliners weren’t properly fastened together, the FAA started investigating these claims. The FAA didn’t ground any airplanes due to this incident. As of now, no formal comments have been made on this by the FAA. Why Did the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Have Problems? If you think this was the first time that the aircraft came under the scrutiny of the FAA, then it’s a big “no.” The FAA grounded all the U.S.-operated aircraft after two lithium-ion batteries malfunctioned. The scary part is that one battery even led to a fire near the tail of a parked airplane in Boston on Jan. 7, 2013. The FAA cleared the airplanes for flying only after approving the revised battery design in April 2013. Also, the company had to cut down on aircraft production starting from 2019 due to quality control issues. Also, there was a temporary break in aircraft deliveries from January 2021 to August 2022. In August 2022, the FAA authorized the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner for delivery since 2021 after the company made the required inspection and apt improvements to meet certification standards. What Boeing Said The company has defended the production process of 787 and 777 airplanes, dismissing Salehpour’s claims and allegations. According to the company, they’re fully confident about the wide-body airliner and stated that the claims about the 787’s structural integrity are incorrect and do not reflect the extensive work it has done to ensure the aircraft’s quality and long-term safety. The company further stated that the issues raised have already been subjected to close inspection by the FAA and do not presently pose any security concerns. Based on the examination and any future inspections, the company is confident that the wide-body airliner will maintain its strength and service life. What Is a Boeing 787 Dreamliner? When launched, this wide-body airliner was targeted to consume 20% less fuel than its predecessor, the Boeing 767. Also, it aimed to transport around 200-300 passengers on point-to-point routes of up to 8,500 nautical miles (9,800 mi). The three variants of this wide-body airliner are as follows: • Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – Shorter variant • Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – Longer variant • Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner – Longest variant • GoJet Receives FAA Part 145 Certification The regional airline plans to offer MRO services to a variety of different operators. United Express CRJ aircraft in Newark (Photo: Shutterstock) May 7, 2024 4:17 pm ET By Ryan Ewing GoJet Airlines, a regional carrier based in St. Louis, announced it has received FAA Part 145 certification to operate a large aircraft repair station. This certification allows the carrier to establish a new Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility, creating over 150 new jobs in the St. Louis area by October 2024. “We understand that there are other quality maintenance providers in the market. However, being one of the few Part 121 operators offering this service, and only one of two regional airlines, GoJet now has a unique opportunity,” the carrier’s CEO Rick Leach said in a news release. The company notes a “growing need for MRO services,” particularly for regional airlines as aircraft return to commercial service from storage programs. GoJet plans to leverage this growth by offering MRO services to regional carriers and others. “Our offering of this new service not only highlights our dedication to the regional market but should also provide our prospective airline customers with an additional level of comfort and support,” Leach added. GoJet’s MRO facility will offer specialized maintenance programs, interior and composite capabilities, and aircraft modifications. The company emphasizes “efficient turnaround times, quality workmanship, and personalized service.” The airline says it is actively seeking clients and securing long-term maintenance contracts. GoJet operates a fleet of over 30 CRJ-550 aircraft on behalf of United Express. Boom's XB-1 supersonic jet has been authorized to break the speed of sound Tests are planned for later this year in Mojave, Ca's supersonic corridor. Steve Dent Reporter Fri, May 3, 2024·2 min read Boom Supersonic Boom's supersonic XB-1 test jet has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to fly past Mach 1, the company announced. Tests are slated to take place later this year at the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor in Mojave, CA, and the results could help prove the feasibility of the design in areas like fuel consumption, speeds and flight characteristics. "Following XB-1’s successful first flight, I’m looking forward to its historic first supersonic flight,” said Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl. "We thank the Federal Aviation Administration for supporting innovation and enabling XB-1 to continue its important role of informing the future of supersonic travel." The approval arrives just weeks after a successful X-B1 test flight at subsonic speeds by a pair of test pilots. It follows a thorough review and environmental assessment, and mandates a chaise plane to trail the XB-1 to monitor and record flight safety, according to the company. The company will conduct 10-20 flights before attempting to break the speed of sound. It will "systematically expand the flight envelope during that time" to confirm performance and handling qualities, Boom said, while performing in-flight checks of all systems and demonstrating a safe margin to flutter/vibration boundaries. Test pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenberg will be at the controls during the first supersonic flight. Passenger flights are still a long way off, though. The XB-1 is a scaled-down version of Boom's ultimate goal, a commercial liner called Overture that's expected to carry under 100 passenger at "business class" comfort levels. The company has said that plane will be able to fly from Tokyo to Seattle in four hours and thirty minutes. The company has seen its share of issues, with test plans delayed and a rupture with original engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce. The company subsequently partnered with a company called FTT to develop its own custom "Symphony" jet engine. Still, the company already has customers lined up, with American Airlines and United Airlines having place orders for multiple jets. NASA is also working on a supersonic jet called the X-59 with a reduced sonic profile, but Boom Supersonic hasn't provided much detail on how it plans to reduce the, well, supersonic boom. 'Lost' satellite found after orbiting undetected for 25 years By Meredith Garofalo published May 6, 2024 The satellite had gone off the grid from radar not once but twice — once in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s. A KH-9 satellite on display in the Space Gallery of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio (Image credit: USAF/Jim Copes) After 25 years of drifting undetected in space, an experimental satellite that launched in 1974 has been found using tracking data from the U.S. Space Force. The Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (S73-7) satellite started its journey into the great unknown after launching on April 10, 1974 through the United States Air Force's Space Test Program. It was originally contained in what was called "The Hexagon System" in which S73-7, the smaller satellite, was deployed from the larger KH-9 Hexagon once in space. S73-7 measured 26 inches wide (66 centimeters) and began its life heading into a 500 mile (800 kilometers) circular orbit. While in orbit, the original plan was for S73-7 to inflate and take on the role as a calibration target for remote sensing equipment. After this failed to be achieved during deployment, the satellite faded away into the abyss and joined the graveyard of unwanted space junk until it was rediscovered in April. In an interview with Gizmodo, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, shared he had studied the data archives and discovered that before the recent finding, it had gone off the grid from radar not once but twice — once in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s. Related: Wow! Private space-junk probe snaps historic photo of discarded rocket in orbit "The problem is that it possibly has a very low radar cross section," McDowell told Gizmodo in a phone interview. "And maybe the thing that they're tracking is a dispenser or a piece of the balloon that didn't deploy right, so it's not metal and doesn't show up well on radar." It's not an easy task to know the location and identity of every single object that's in orbit as there are more than 20,000 at the moment. By using ground-based radar as well as optical sensors, space junk can be tracked and when appropriate put into a satellite catalogue, but determining exactly what each item is has challenges. The sensors can pick up on an object in orbit but then it has to be matched with a satellite that's also on the same path. "If you've got a recent orbital data set, and there's not too many things that are similar orbit, it's probably an easy match," McDowell said. "But if it's a very crowded bit of parameter space, and you haven't seen it for a while, then it's not so easy to match up." A National Reconnaissance Office illustration of a KH-9 Hexagon satellite and its basic systems. (Image credit: National Reconnaissance Office) Post launch, ground engineers have a good idea of where a satellite is headed and the altitude it's expected to drift to. With this information in the log, they can take a look back at the progression and compare it to where the satellite was last reported. However, to throw a wrench into that, if there's are any alteration to the original maneuvering plans or if a satellite drifts in orbit, engineers have more work to do to find it again. "If you don't know exactly where the maneuver was, you may have trouble locating it," McDowell said. "If I rewind the orbit of an object and fast forward for the missing object, do they meet and is the point where they meet where the maneuver happened?" That's why a discovery like this is a win for the men and women trying to keep track of the tens of thousands of lost satellites and other debris orbiting our planet. But as more and more satellites head into space, the task will become even greater to know what exactly is out there and what threats that could pose. "If you're missing one or two objects, that's not a huge risk," McDowell told Gizmodo. "But you want to do as good a job as you can." Airlift invention by Airmen saves Air Force time, money Published April 29, 2024 By Tech. Sgt. Michael Campbell Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Imagine the chaos in this scenario: during an Air Force airlift mission to deliver mission-critical supplies, a cargo pallet slams into a rail system on an aircraft causing costly damage and impacting the mission. Heavy Airlift Wing members from three NATO countries begin a cargo upload to test the K-Wedge prototype installed on a C-17 Globemaster III cargo floor at Papa Air Base, Hungary, Feb.27, 2024. The K-Wedge is an installable C-17 loading aid and low-cost solution that eliminates preventable damage during cargo loading operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Brett Kiser) PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES This very real problem has previously caused issues for airlift aircraft crews, maintainers and mission planners alike.In 2019, then Tech. Sgt. Brett Kiser was assigned to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, working on loading operations for airlift of critical munitions. He observed a loading incident on a C-17 Globemaster III in which a pallet struck the aircraft’s logistic rail system, causing significant damage and cascading impacts to the mission. Seeking a solution, Kiser and his team started working to develop an installable device to help prevent undesired pallet movement. They began testing and evaluating its use over numerous missions, demonstrated its effectiveness. They branded it the “K-Wedge” after the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing's historic tail flash, commemorating the partnership between Air Mobility Command and the U.S. Air Forces Central Airmen who developed the prototype. “Our team knew the prototype would succeed for a few reasons; the first was the prototype's structural integrity could withstand the brute force of ammo pallets during loading operations,” Kiser said. “The second was the overwhelming feedback from end-users. Near the end of the two-month test phase, the aircrew would make 30-minute outcalls requesting 'K-Wedge support.' The local flight line community quickly embraced it as a preferred, preventative measure to keep the planes flying unhindered by rail damage and reduced payloads. It was a tool that not only worked, but it was made by Airmen for Airmen.” U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sydney McDougal, C-17 Globemaster III loadmaster assigned to the Heavy Airlift Wing, gives K-Wedge prototype design feedback to Bunker Supply’s Chief Executive Officer Ryan Olson and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Strategic Studies Group’s Lt. Col. Michael Ristom at Papa, Air Base, Hungary, Feb. 28, 2024. The K-Wedge is an installable C-17 loading aid and low-cost solution that eliminates preventable damage during cargo loading operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Brett Kiser) PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES In 2020, Kiser and his team competed in Air Force Spark Tank 2020, a service-wide competition to demonstrate innovative ideas. They tied for second place and got their invention backed for further development by the highest levels of Air Force leadership. The K-Wedge was then sent through an extensive period of research and development. Recently, the Boeing NATO program manager requested to implement the K-Wedge for testing in critical airlift missions with the Heavy Airlift Wing, a multinational airlift wing providing strategic airlift capabilities to 12 NATO and partner nations. “The Heavy Airlift Wing prototype test was unexpected until Boeing's NATO program manager proposed a plan to protect the HAW's C-17 logistics rails from damage while transporting arms and ammunition to support Ukraine,” Kiser said. "The CSAF Strategic Studies Group, Tesseract [Headquarters Air Force/A4LR], AMC A4T, and the Boeing NATO manager traveled to Papa, Hungary, and successfully tested the prototype for three days on C-17 aircraft. During this trial, the testing team gathered end-user feedback from NATO aircrew and load team members." AMC A4T oversaw prototype testing, provided historical C-17 rail damage data, and documented lessons learned for future stateside tests. Meanwhile, Tesseract leveraged available funding and liaised with industry to modernize the prototype for this test. The HAW approved the test, hosted all parties, and facilitated the test on their C-17 aircraft using available personnel and equipment. Additionally, Boeing coordinated the test with the HAW and provided engineering support. Finally, Bunker Supply developed the modernized prototype and measured/documented the loading tests with high-tech tools. A NATO Air Transportation personnel installs the K-Wedge on the floor of a Heavy Airlift Wing C-17 Globemaster III at Papa Air Base, Hungary, Feb. 27, 2024. The K-Wedge is an installable C-17 loading aid and low-cost solution that eliminates preventable damage during cargo loading operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Brett Kiser) PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES “AMC A4T, Tesseract, and our team are extremely grateful and excited for the project's recent progress due to the teamwork and shared vision of accelerating combat innovation efforts with allies and partners,” Kiser said. “Our excitement is further elevated by the positive feedback we receive from Airmen in the loadmaster, maintenance and aerial port communities who have witnessed the prototype demonstrations. We want to make their roles easier and provide added confidence by eliminating unnecessary aircraft damage.” Kiser explained that this industry and international partnerships have helped pave a potential path for future multinational innovative solutions. “The amazing relationships with AMC A4T and Tesseract made the HAW test possible through years of design, iteration and partnership. Both organizations continue to lead the way in supporting Airman innovation projects by advocating and working on various projects due to a shared vision of improving the department's rapid global mobility capabilities during this time of consequence.” Kiser has now attained the rank of senior master sergeant and is currently the senior enlisted leader for the chief of staff of the Air Force Strategic Studies Group. 51st LRS conducts first-ever 51st FW wet-wing defuel mission Published May 9, 2024 By Senior Airman Sabrina Fuller-Judd 51st Fighter Wing OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- The 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight and Airmen assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord conduct a wet-wing defuel operation with a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, April 19, 2024. The 51st LRS completed the inaugural wet-wing defuel at Osan AB. The capability provides fuel for any aircraft from any location, allowing the 51st Fighter Wing to remain ready to ‘Fight Tonight’. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sabrina Fuller-Judd) The 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight conducted their first wet-wing defuel operation at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, April 19, 2024. The 51st Fighter Wing partnered with a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The capability provides fuel for any aircraft from any location, allowing the 51st Fighter Wing to remain ready to ‘Fight Tonight’. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sabrina Fuller-Judd) Curt Lewis