C-17 crew cleared of fault after evacuating Afghans fell from plane during U.S. military withdrawal

AIR FORCE TIMES: An American C-17 crew tasked with evacuating people from Kabul last August followed the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict when they decided to take off amid a mob of frantic Afghans on the runway, killing multiple people who clung to the transport jet, the Air Force said in a release Monday.

Video footage that went viral on social media showed people falling from the outside of the enormous Globemaster III as it began its ascent from Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 16, 2021. Human remains were found in the airlifter’s wheel well once it landed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, spurring an Office of Special Investigations inquiry into the loss of life.

The C-17 had arrived with equipment to support the humanitarian airlift, but was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the airport. The jet taxied through the crowd and escaped.

Airmen used sound judgment in getting airborne as quickly as possible during the “unprecedented and rapidly deteriorating security situation,” service spokesperson Ann Stefanek said. “The aircrew’s airmanship and quick thinking ensured the safety of the crew and their aircraft.”

The Washington Post, which first reported the discovery of the remains, noted that the pilots declared an in-flight emergency when they could not pull up their landing gear.

Upon landing at Al Udeid, Air Force investigators impounded the aircraft to collect the human remains and turned the matter over to Qatari police, who did not investigate further.

Satellite images indicate Iran may be readying for space launch

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image Tuesday afternoon showed the rocket apparently on the tower.

Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the spaceport and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, its state-run IRNA news agency in May said that Iran likely would have seven homemade satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023. A Defense Ministry official also recently suggested Iran soon could test its new solid-fueled, satellite-carrying rocket called the Zuljanah.

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MV-22B Osprey crashes in California - 5 dead.

WP: An Osprey aircraft carrying five Marines crashed near Glamis, Calif., located just north of the Mexican border, at about 12:25 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, the California-based unit that was responsible for the MV-22B Osprey, declined to comment on potential fatalities. Military and civilian first responders are at the crash site, he said.

“We ask for the public’s patience as we work diligently with first responders and the unit to identify what occurred this afternoon,” the Marines said in an emailed statement.

The Marines denied posts circulating on social media asserting that the aircraft may have been carrying nuclear material. “There was no nuclear material on board the aircraft,” the Marines said.

Officials in Imperial County, where Glamis is located, could not immediately be reached for comment, but county officials wrote on social media that they were aware of a downed aircraft and were providing assistance. Glamis, east of San Diego, is a desert area known for its sand dunes.

Osprey aircraft, used by the U.S. and Japanese militaries, take off and land vertically like helicopters but fly like airplanes. The MV-22B — which combines the flexibility of a chopper that can operate in diverse environments with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft — is primarily used to transport troops and equipment in support of amphibious assaults.

Marines launch a ‘kamikaze’ drone from an Osprey aircraft

But the aircraft’s safety record has come under scrutiny. More than 40 people have died while flying on Ospreys since 1991.

In March, an Osprey crashed during NATO exercises in Norway, killing four American service members. In 2017, a Marine Osprey crashed in Syria, injuring two. That year, a crash in Australia also left three Marines dead. In 2014, an Osprey briefly lost power while flying over the Persian Gulf, resulting in one Marine fatality. One of the deadliest crashes came in April 2000, when all 19 Marines aboard a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were killed. 

Holloman AFB Rocket Sled sets hypersonic ground (recoverable) rocket speed record.

• Published June 2, 2022
• By Deidre Moon
• AEDC Public Affairs

click to enlarge 

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  

In late March, the 846th Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., successfully stopped a reusable sled traveling at 6,400 feet per second on a monorail, making it a historic event for the team’s Hypersonic Sled Recovery, or HSR, effort.

Lt. Col. Paul Dolce, Commander, 846th Test Squadron, congratulated his team on this momentous achievement at the Holloman High Speed Test Track.

"What you accomplished marked the fastest recovery of a monorail sled in over 30 years, and the first time we have recovered a planned reusable sled at those speeds ever,” Dolce said. “Truly historic in my books! This could not have been done without everyone here who works at the track. 

“These efforts will now setup our future HyTIP [Hypersonic Test and Evaluation Investment Portfolio] runs for success and add a new capability for our hypersonic customers."

Daniel Lopez, a project manager for the HHSTT, added that he hopes this is a sign of future successful hypersonic recovery tests.

“I echo what Lt. Col. Dolce said,” Lopez said. “Excellent job to the entire team for their hard work and innovation. This just sets the bar that much higher.”

The 846 TS has been responding to a significant increase in demand for hypersonic weapons testing, with a focus on improving its high-speed breaking capability in order to recover sleds for post-test analysis. HHSTT is the only sled track capable of recovering sleds with test articles from velocities over Mach 5.

The track serves as a critical link between laboratory-type investigations and full-scale flight tests by simulating selected portions of the flight environment under accurately programmed and instrumented conditions..

The HHSTT is the world's premier rocket sled test track. The HHSTT at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, is an aerospace ground test facility that conducted its first sled test in 1950. During tests, payload and instrumentation are moved along a straight-line path by means of rocket sleds, which operate on a set of heavy-duty crane rails. These rails span a total linear distance of 50,988 feet. They are continuously welded and aligned to rigid tolerances with respect to straightness and surface smoothness.

The Test Track provides a critical link between laboratory-type investigations and full-scale flight tests. The Test Track provides an efficient, safe, and cost-effective ground test alternative to expensive developmental flight tests. Complementing the Test Track itself, the overall HHSTT complex encompasses ancillary facilities for artificial rain simulation, an accurately surveyed ejection test area, captive and free-flight blast test sites, impact test sites, and a horizontal rocket test stand. Support facilities include buildings for electronic and photo-optical instrumentation, a telemetry ground station, and engineering and shop facilities for design and fabrication of test sleds.

Both military and civilian professionals operate the HHSTT and have the skills needed to design, fabricate, instrument, launch, photograph, and analyze the performance of test vehicles and payloads.

Pentagon: "UAPs clearly pose a safety threat."

 

CBS Washington — A House panel held the first public congressional hearing on unidentified flying objects in more than half a century on Tuesday, with top Pentagon officials saying the number of "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP) reported by pilots and service members had grown to about 400. 

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray testified before a House subcommittee about how the Defense Department is organizing reports of UAPs after a congressionally mandated report released last year found most of the incidents analyzed remain unidentified. 

Rep. André Carson, a Democrat of Indiana and the chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism, and Counterproliferation, opened the hearing by saying UAPs "are a potential national security threat, and they need to be treated that way."

"For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did. DOD officials relegated the issue to the backroom or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community," Carson said. "Today, we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it's true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. And any threats they pose need to be mitigated."

There is little doubt that the unidentified objects are real objects, whatever they may be, because at least 80 of the 144 incidents were detected by multiple sensors, the report found. "UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security," the report said.

At the public portion of the hearing, which was followed by a classified session, Bray said the number of reported incidents had grown to approximately 400 since last year's report. He said the sightings are "frequent and continuing" and often occur in military training areas or other designated airspace. 

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