Also Updates Status Of Warthog Repairs
The Air Force is "all in" with regard to unmanned aerial
systems, and the service's leaders understand Defense Secretary
Robert M. Gates' direction to field the systems in the combat
theater as fully and quickly as possible, the commander of 12th Air
Force and Air Forces Southern said January 12.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip participated in a
teleconference with online journalists and bloggers.
"Next year, the Air Force will procure more unmanned aircraft
than manned aircraft," the general said. "So I think that makes a
very pointed statement about our commitment to the future of UAS
and what it brings to the fight in meeting the requirements of
combatant commanders."
Seip said the Air Force has 85 percent of its theater-level UAS
capability deployed in support of operations in Southwest Asia. The
other 15 percent are stateside to train UAS pilots and for
operational test and development. The Air Force is doing all it can
to speed up the UAS pilot training process, he added.
Additionally, he said, teams at the Air Warfare Center at Nellis
Air Force Base, NV are developing countermeasures for potential
enemy use of unmanned aerial systems.
"When, in the future, we encounter a near-peer or asymmetric
threat, or a terrorist organization that has the UAS capability,
we're going to certainly need to be working toward active
techniques so that we can counter those capabilities," he said.
These techniques will be essential for the Air Force to dominate
airspace when needed and allow for freedom of maneuver for ground
forces, the general explained.
Seip also updated the group on maintenance issues surrounding
A-10 Thunderbolt II (or "Warthog") close-air-support fighter jets
following a technical order issued in October
requiring immediate inspection and repair of wing cracks in
a portion of the A-10 fleet.
Though 40 percent of thin-skinned A-10s are grounded, he said,
12th Air Force still is able to provide warfighters with the
close-air support they need in the combat theater. Repairs should
be completed by June, he said.
Seip noted 12th Air Force's busy pace in supporting the war on
terror and continuing its ongoing mission as the air component for
US Southern Command.
"It is an exciting time in both 12th Air Force and Air Forces
Southern," he said, "as the Air Force continues to fight the long
war on terrorism as well as support its 'soft-power' commitment in
South [America], Central America and the Caribbean."
With headquarters at Arizona's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Air
Combat Command's 12th Air Force controls conventional fighter and
bomber forces based in the western United States.
(Aero-News thanks Megan Orton, Special to American Forces
Press Service)