Passing the Viper test

POST-BLOCK VIPER TEST

As the replacement of active-duty F-16s with F-35s continues and frees up entire squadrons’ worth of post-block F-16s, these airframes are likely to equip US ANG and AFRC squadrons, replacing the older preblock jets. To maintain current capability, the Guard and Reserve try to get as many modifications and new systems already in their pre-block F-16s approved for installation in their post-block Vipers too.

The AATC’s David Culbertson explained: “As these pre-block jets are retired, we’re assuming that they will be replaced by post-block aircraft. As the F-35s are delivered to those F-16 units, they’ll flow to the Guard and Reserve, and that’s why we want to be able to pull whatever we’ve done in these aircraft out and put them right in the post-block aircraft.” To this end, the AATC operates two Block 42 F-16Cs specifically to test systems and modifications already in use on pre-block F-16s on post-block jets. Meeting the warfighter’s needs

Together, the ANG and AFRC are known as the Air Reserve Component (ARC), and AATC’s F-16 CTF conducts testing for the ARC’s ‘pre-block’ (Blocks 25/30/32) and ‘post-block’ (Blocks 40/42/50/52) F-16s using a mixed fleet of six pre-block (one 30, five 32s) and two post-block jets. In addition to ANG and AFRC pilots serving full-time, the F-16 CTF also includes active-duty pilots and engineers from Edwards AFB, California, who – on top of providing their own expertise and insights – give AATC in-house liaisons to the active component test community.

In determining which upgrades to prioritize, the ANG and AFRC employ a bottom-up approach, soliciting input from squadron pilots on what their communities need to be missioneffective. As Lt Col Richard ‘Tricky’ Wigle, AATC’s outgoing assistant director of operations explained: “We hold our yearly conference called WEPTAC, the Weapons and Tactics Conference, and we bring the angry major and the angry captain out here and let them vent and bitch about what isn’t right and what they need and what their problem sets are.”

Prior to taking command of the AATC, Col Jason ‘Gyro’ Halvorsen worked in the ANG Requirements Office, known by the alphanumeric designation: A5. Halvorsen, who worked closely with the AATC while at A5, recalled: “Going to WEPTAC got me really involved with the test center and what was getting fielded and why, basically identifying capability gaps and going ‘Hey guys, if we're called upon tomorrow to go to war, this is what I need on my jet to field’ – that starts the requirements and test process.”

The gaps identified during WEPTAC get ranked, with the most urgent formally translated into requirements through the ARC A5 offices. Requirements are published yearly in a ‘Modernization’ book. A5 and AATC work together using the ‘Mod’ book to find commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions that fulfill the warfighter’s needs, as neither the ANG nor AFRC can initiate the development of new equipment.

Explaining this process, Col Halvorsen told Combat Aircraft Journal: “It's up to A5 and AATC to connect the dots with industry and go ‘What do you guys have that can fill this capability gap?’ From there, A5 will write the requirement and ultimately fund with NGREA [National Guard/Reserve Equipment Account]. The software and/or hardware is then delivered to AATC for test. At the completion of our test plan, AATC will deliver a fielding recommendation, which, if proven effective, will be funded and installed on our combat aircraft.”

Above: An AATC pre-block F-16C at low-level in the hills of southern Arizona

Below: An AATC pilot going through pre-flight procedures while wearing a Hybrid Optically-based Inertial Tracking (HObIT) helmetmounted cueing system. The HObIT is under test to replace the Scorpion HMIT system in all US Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve F-16s

Agile jets, agile funding

Though the ARC is expected to bring the same capabilities to the fight as

the regular air force (RegAF), the USAF budget often lacks the appropriations to fund the upgrades needed by the Guard and Reserve to meet this expectation. As such, most ARC upgrades get funded through the NGREA. Explaining the origins of NGREA, AATC deputy director, David ‘Gunner’ Culbertson, said: “Back in the 80s, Congress recognized that the RegAF funding frequently didn’t get to the Guard and Reserve units, there just wasn’t enough money. So, they started funding a program called NGREA, under which we get an appropriation from Congress every year. I never want to give the impression that the RegAF isn’t doing these things, they often just don’t have the money to.”

In addition to the restriction on the ARC initiating the development of new systems, the ANG and AFRC are similarly prohibited from selecting or purchasing weapons with NGREA.

However, within the framework of those boundaries, NGREA funds are extremely flexible. With the annual allotment disbursed as a lump sum instead of a line-item appropriation, the Guard and Reserve assign funds as needed to keep ARC equipment tactically relevant and able to provide the same – if not better – capabilities as the RegAF.

Because NGREA appropriations are limited and vary from year-to-year, the ANG and AFRC often choose affordable, functional solutions over top-shelf gear. Further, because of the flexibility of NGREA funds and the lack of long lead times for systems still in development, the Guard and Reserve – with the AATC’s help – can field proven, tactically-relevant solutions much

Above: An AATC F-16C at low-level carrying a pair of GBU-24 2,000lb laser-guided bombs WEAPONS

When adding weapons to the quiver of ARC Vipers, both the A5 Requirements Shop and AATC work closely with the active component. While the AATC can and does test weapons on a regular basis, it cannot initiate the development of new weapons systems or order weapons not already in RegAF use. Lt Col Richard Wigle explained: “Because we can’t do weapons, we have to advocate and build relationships to try and convince people that we need better weapons.” Most recently, the AATC conducted testing of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) on one of its pre-block F-16s (serial 86-0212). After a series of flights with a captive, inert JASSM to test software compatibility, AATC conducted a live-fire test of a JASSM on June 6, 2022 at Hill AFB in Utah.

more quickly than the active component. Pilots and staff at AATC regularly use the term ‘80 for 20,’ which F-16 CTF director Lt Col Dustin ‘Yogi’ Brown explained as: “Solutions that are 80 percent capability, 20 percent of the cost, and then we look to upgrade them when they’re on the airplane. We just want to get it on the airplane, then upgrade it. We tend to not seek the gold-plated solution from the outset. We’re not afraid to look at solutions that are ‘good enough’ to get capability on our airplanes and into the hands of our warfi ghters quickly.”

Among other systems, the AATC tests defensive systems like chaff and fl ares. Recently, the unit tested a new expendables dispenser called the Pylon Integrated Dispenser Systems (PIDS), which will add additional chaff and fl ares to guard and reserve F-16s Frank Crebas

Eclectic jets

LEADING THE WAY ON AESA

Not all systems the AATC tests come from WEPTAC-identifi ed warfi ghter needs. One recent modifi cation, the addition of the APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, originated with a US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) request for AESA-equipped fi ghters for homeland defense.

With this mission belonging to the ANG, the Guard’s Block 30/32 jets were the fi rst F-16s to receive the APG-83, with the AATC managing the installation and testing process. The APG-83 is another example of how quickly the ARC can fi eld upgrades – the requirement for an AESA in Guard F-16s originated with a 2016 Joint Urgent Operational Need from NORAD, with the APG-83 being fully fi elded throughout the ANG F-16 community as of mid-2022.

AATC continues test work with the radar, focusing on software upgrades and advanced capabilities. With multiple test programs running concurrently and only eight aircraft, no two AATC F-16s fl y in the same confi guration. Each system under test may only be installed in one or two aircraft, as wiring demands accumulate quickly. All confi gurations are managed by the ‘Dogs’, the AATC’s maintenance liaisons, who provide the necessary schematics to the unit’s military maintainers who install and remove all test systems and associated wiring and instrumentation.

Because not every test system is mounted to every aircraft, routine maintenance sometimes leads to the

Above: AATC F-16D departing Tucson early morning, armed with inert GBU-24 2,000lb laser-guided bombs Paul Dunn

Below: AATC’s two pre-block F-16Ds over Arizona at sunset. Furthest from the camera, 87-0367 was transferred from the AFRC’s 93rd FS at Homestead AFB in Florida Frank Crebas unavailability of certain systems. As Lt Col Brown observed: “When a jet goes down for a mod or something... like 211 is down right now, and my gosh, it’s one of our active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar jets and it’s got (ALR-)69A, and I NEED that airplane to do some stuff , but it’s down for another mod right now. That hurts us because we don’t have a fl eet of ten or more aircraft in a similar confi guration to go use them in four-ships and eight-ships, but unfortunately I can’t do that. But again, that’s 80 for 20.”

OFP upgrades

Any discussion of the various F-16 upgrades AATC has recently evaluated must start with the aircraft’s Operational Flight Program (OFP), which governs everything from fl ight controls to fuel and stores management. Any major system introduced to ARC F-16s must be compatible with the OFP, regardless of aircraft block, and it falls on AATC to ensure that compatibility.

While the OFP upgrades for Guard and Reserve post-block F-16s come from the 53rd Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, the AATC manages the OFP requirements for ARC pre-block Vipers. “We have pretty much total control over the pre-block OFP software package, so all of our Block 25s, 30s, and 32s,” said Col Halvorsen. For things we want to put into the jet, our requirements, we rewrite the software. We work with the 309th Software Maintenance Group up at Hill AFB, they write all the code, and then we go test it.”

The current Software Capability Upgrade (SCU) in ARC pre-block F-16s is SCU 10, which among other things introduced Link-16 datalink capability, allowing for deeper integration with fi fth-generation fi ghters, like the F-35. Most AATC pre-blocks are currently testing SCU 11.7.4.

While AATC does not control the OFP requirements for post-block F-16s, nearly every system the unit tests on its Block 42 aircraft needs to be able to integrate with the post-block OFP, requiring AATC to work closely with the active-duty USAF test establishment. As Lt Col Wigle said: “On the post-block side, we don’t own the OFP.

Above: Airmen with AATC load an AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) on a pre-block F-16 for a live-fi re test launch at Hill Air Force Base on June 8, 2022. AATC prepared for this test by ensuring software compatibility between the JASSM and the pre-block F-16’s Operational Flight Program with a captive, inert JASSM US DoD/Todd Cromar

THE HObIT

Another AATC-tested upgrade to ARC pre-block F-16s is the Thales Hybrid Optical-based Inertial Tracker (HObIT) helmet-mounted cueing system (HMCS), an upgrade of the Scorpion Helmet-Mounted Integrated Targeting (HMIT) system – itself a system that has long-equipped all Guard and Reserve A-10C Warthog units after testing by AATC’s A-10 CTF.

The HObIT provides numerous advantages over the costlier joint helmet-mounted cueing system (JHMCS) used in RegAF F-16s. As Lt Col Wigle told Combat Aircraft Journal: “It has a little monocle on it, and it does the projection in full color. We have the ability to actually design and do the coding, where with JHMCS, it’s what the company gave them, and they can’t change it. We bought the ability to actually modify the helmet. We still make changes to the helmet all the time.

“The number of features that are built into that helmet are just ridiculous. The other thing is that with JHMCS, when you put NVGs on, you’ve got to take the JHMCS off , so at night, you have none of that cueing. With this, because of the monocle, I can put the NVGs over the top of it, and I have full cueing, even at night.”

With all ANG squadrons fl ying pre-block F-16s equipped with HObIT, recent testing by AATC on its two post-block Vipers resulted in the system being approved for the Guard’s post-block F-16s in May.

Other systems currently under test on AATC’s pre-block aircraft include a new sensor integration unit to assist in better presentation of data from diff erent sensors to the pilot, a new recording system to replace the current DVR system, and an infrared search-and-track (IRST) system for out-of-radar-band sensing.

UNIT REPORT // AATC ELECTRONIC WARFARE

In line with the US military’s renewed strategic emphasis on a potential peer-level conflict in the Pacific, modernization of defensive systems emerged as a priority for the ARC. Col Halvorsen explained: “We’re doing a lot on the electronic warfare side. We’re finishing up some tests on digital radar warning receivers [RWRs] and trying to stay ahead of advanced adversary weapons and systems. We’re doing a lot of weapons testing, digital RWR [such as the ALR-69A], electronic attack, and electronic protection in different forms, either expendable or podded-type solutions.”

Though not necessarily a new system, the AATC continues to test the ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management System. The ALQ-213 was initially developed for Royal Danish Air Force F-16s and has since been adapted to numerous types in US military service.

Describing the benefits of the system, Lt Col Dustin Brown said: “The -213 increases survivability on the platform while reducing pilot workload by automating threat response. In layman’s terms, the -213 takes inputs from the RWR, it knows where you are in the world, what’s your maneuver status, etc, and it can manage your electronic attack pod, it can co-ordinate better with the ALE-50 towed decoy. It can help your chaff dispense in a manner that’s most appropriate for the threat environment.”

Additional survivability aids recently evaluated by the AATC include the Pylon-Integrated Dispenser System (PIDS), which adds chaff and flare dispensers to the F-16’s bomb racks to increase the number of expendables that can be carried by a single aircraft, and the Leonardo BriteCloud expendable decoy system.

“Eglin is the one that is primarily running that program right now, they’re the ones that control that OFP. So, when I buy a piece of hardware for a Guard post-block jet, which I can do, and I want to put it on that airplane, the integration piece becomes more of a challenge, because I’ve got to co-ordinate with them, and I have to get them to put it on a priority list high enough when that equipment will never see an active-duty jet.”

High definition

One of the most significant upgrades the AATC has shepherded into ARC’s F-16s is the Center Display Unit, or CDU. The CDU is effectively a large, high-resolution tablet-like display situated where the old analog gauges sat on production F-16s. In addition to presenting the same data these gauges did – altitude, airspeed, heading, etc – the CDU functions as an additional multifunction display (MFD), augmenting the F-16’s two 4in x 4in MFDs. Describing the advantages of the CDU over the MFDs when interfacing with targeting pods, Lt Col Wigle said: “That video on a four-inch by four-inch monochrome screen has limitations with the resolution. We took what was always a high-definition signal in the pod, and now we have the equipment, we’re able to pump that into the CDU; the picture is exquisite.” In addition to providing targeting pod video in high definition, the CDU allows pilots to view the feed from both color electro-optical and infrared cameras simultaneously, as well as being able to simultaneously view the infrared feed in white-hot and black-hot polarities.

The CDU provides a high-definition display for another system under test by the AATC – the Northrop-Grumman ASQ-236 ‘Dragon’s Eye’ Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) pod, used for terrain and target mapping. In the RegAF, the ASQ-236 is used primarily on the F-15E Strike Eagle, with the pod controlled by the backseat weapons systems officer (WSO). Illustrating how well the ASQ-236 pairs with the CDU, Lt Col Brown said: “We had a former Strike Eagle WSO who worked with us as a contractor, and he said the quality of the SAR map as displayed on the CDU was tremendous. It was very good compared to the 5in x 5in displays on the Strike Eagle because you have the ability to render it in higher fidelity.” The CDU is a good example of how quickly the requirements-to-fielding process moves in the ANG and AFRC, as Lt Col Brown explained: “We put things on the jet quickly. We put CDU in all our Guard and Reserve pre-blocks and all our Guard

A pair of AATC F-16Ds performing defensive maneuvers. In addition to testing commercial off-the-shelf solutions to meet warfighter needs, AATC develops basic tactics for units receiving new equipment to employ that equipment effectively Frank Crebas

Above: The AATC’s flagship F-16 taxis out carrying an inert AGM-158/B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Munition during captive tests as the Test Center worked up for a live-fire JASSM test in June

Right: An AATC F-16 taxiing for a night mission carrying an ASQ-236 Synthetic Aperture Radar reconnaissance pod on the centerline pylon and a mix of GBU-38 and -54 JDAMs under each wing

post-blocks before the RegAF jets even have them. They’re just starting to get them right now.”

The CDU can be upgraded through the addition of apps, which the AATC’s CDU team is constantly writing, with the results being more effi cient use and expanded capability. Further, given that the CDU’s software runs independent of the OFP, these apps work the same regardless of whether the CDU is in a pre-block or post-block F-16.

Recently, the AATC added a second two-seat F-16D acquired from the 93rd Fighter Squadron ‘Makos’, to install the fi rst CDU in a rear cockpit. The test intention is to equip all ARC F-16Ds with the capability for instructor pilots to monitor the full complement of displays seen by the student up front.

Blue and gray patches

The Guard and Reserve are both known for being top-heavy in terms of rank and experience, and the AATC is – by necessity – even more so. Outlining what he looks for in accepting pilots into the unit, Col Halvorsen said: “We need folks with combat experience, with a lot of hours, instructor time, just knowing all the systems and better-informed and able to make better decisions on how the test is running and how it’s going. There is nobody on the fl ying side that has not at least been an instructor in a combat squadron.”

Beyond these minimum requirements, graduates of both the Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB (‘Gray Patches’) and the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB (‘Blue Patches’) fi ll many of the fl ying slots in the AATC’s F-16 CTF. “I try to keep the right mix,” Col Halvorsen told Combat Aircraft Journal, “because everybody brings a diff erent perspective to the fi ght, between your weapons school graduates, your test pilot school graduates, and then just your line instructor pilot [IP] who is on top of his game. They all bring diff erent perspectives.” Currently, the F-16 CTF has a roughly even mix of ‘Gray Patches’, ‘Blue Patches’, and senior IPs.

Lt Col Brown elaborated on this: “As we look at problems and at things going into the airplane, you have a small group of people who are all sitting in the same room together, and we’re maybe looking at it from diff erent angles. Your ‘Blue Patches’ may have a bit more analytical and technical-side input, while the ‘Gray Patches’ are looking at it from a standpoint of how to use something in a variety of diff erent scenarios, like how can we use this if we’re integrating with the F-35 or other platforms? We end up coming up with a pretty merged solution.”

In addition to F-16 CTF pilots fl ying with equipment and software under test, AATC routinely brings in pilots from Guard and Reserve F-16 squadrons to fl y the aircraft with these upgrades installed both to ensure user-friendliness and get feedback from those most likely to employ these systems in combat. As ‘Gunner’ Culbertson explained: “When we fi eld something, that brand new wingman who has 100 hours in the airplane needs to be able to use it just like the Weapons School guy that’s got 1,500 or 2,000 hours and 200 combat missions. It’s got to work for everybody, so we like to get that perspective in-house as we evaluate things to make sure we capture that kind of feedback and collect the kind of data that as a minimum may impact the training that goes out with a new release.”

Personnel longevity

Another factor that sets the AATC apart from its active-component partners is personnel longevity. Whereas an active-duty pilot’s tour with a specifi c unit is typically two or three years, some of the pilots in the AATC’s F-16 CTF have been with the unit for more than a decade. While there are obvious drawbacks to this – namely, limitation of career progression for those choosing to stay – the advantages in earned expertise, relationship-building, and the ability to see numerous upgrade programs through from the initial requirements statement to being completely fi elded throughout the Reserve component justify this approach to talent management. As Lt Col Brown observed: “We just have folks who are here long enough to build those relationships and build trust. You get a small team of folks who can really make things happen. We do small well here.”

Despite its small size, the AATC’s F-16 CTF performs a big job – ensuring the tactical relevance of more than one-third of all F-16s currently in USAF service. Summarizing his view on what AATC accomplishes, Col Halvorsen said: “I feel like we really make a diff erence here. The more I can help getting an end product out there to increase warfi ghter capability out for whenever we’re called to anywhere around the globe, I feel like that makes a diff erence and it just gets me excited to go to work every day.”