The US Air Force has launched a new readiness drive aimed at getting more B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers available for operations, with early work cutting some critical parts delivery times from more than a week to as little as two or three days.
U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command has joined with Air Force Materiel Command and the Defense Logistics Agency for what it calls the North Star Readiness Campaign, bringing maintenance, supply, engineering and modernisation work under a single effort focused on increasing the number of mission-capable aircraft. The campaign comes as the United States simultaneously sustains an ageing bomber fleet and pushes ahead with major upgrades, while preparing for the introduction of the B-21 Raider.
Gen. S.L. Davis, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said: “The North Star Readiness Campaign is our commitment to ensuring the warfighter has the nation’s bomber force ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
He added: “This is a team effort. It brings together the operators at Air Force Global Strike Command, the acquisition and sustainment experts at Air Force Materiel Command, and our logistics partners at the Defense Logistics Agency to focus on one thing: operational readiness.”
A major part of the work is focused on the less glamorous problem of getting parts to aircraft quickly enough. Daily aircraft-on-ground meetings now bring together the Defense Logistics Agency, supply-chain personnel, base logistics units and flight-line maintainers to identify delays and move components between locations more quickly.
According to the U.S. Air Force, some lateral shipments which previously took a week or more can now be completed within two to three days. There has also been a substantial reduction in mission-impacting parts problems. The number of Mission Impaired Capability Awaiting Parts, or MICAP, issues has fallen from more than 450 at the start of the effort to around 160.
The U.S. Air Force says that reduction has allowed sustainment teams to spend less time responding to immediate shortages and more time dealing with backorders and identifying components likely to cause future readiness problems.
The B-1 is receiving particular attention around structural and avionics components, with the campaign seeking to improve parts availability while shortening depot maintenance cycles. Lt. Gen. Linda Hurry, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, said: “Our constant engagement with Global Strike leadership and joint logisticians has helped us reinvigorate the supply chain and return these airframes to the fleet faster after depot maintenance, increasing bomber capacity and capability.”
The campaign is also incorporating changes proposed by personnel working directly on the aircraft.
Chief Master Sgt. Shane Anderson, the campaign’s change management lead, said maintainers had developed a local playbook to improve phase maintenance, which he said had “drastically reduced maintenance timelines while strictly maintaining safety and security.”
The readiness effort runs alongside major modernisation programmes for the bomber fleet. The B-52 is undergoing a wide-ranging upgrade programme, while the B-1 continues to receive changes intended to sustain its conventional strike role.
The North Star campaign covers more than aircraft upgrades. Its immediate focus is on the practical problems that determine how many bombers can actually fly: spare parts, engineering support, depot throughput and the maintenance processes used on the flight line.
There have been B1s flying over Cornwall for several weeks. Some on flight radar, some not. A trio of A10s that had made the transatlantic hop were also amongst unusual sightings this year. Over in Northern France the fighter training/patrolling tempo has massively increased. Not a lot going on with UK jets or warships though
We very rarely see Lightnings on ADS-B, and not all Typhoon and other aircraft. They rarely have transponders on when working on ranges – other than when the Atlas does beach landings at Pembrey. So unless we have a network of people at every station relaying movements it’s guesswork… oh yes, the community of spotters does this!