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STATEMENT BY
GENERAL LESTER L. LYLES
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
COMMANDER, AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND

AND

MAJOR GENERAL PAUL NIELSEN
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
COMMANDER, AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY

BEFORE THE
TACTICAL AIR AND LAND FORCES SUBCOMMITTEE
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AIR FORCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS

JULY 19, 2003   

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, and Staff, Gen Nielsen and I very much appreciate the opportunity to provide written testimony on the Fiscal Year 2004 Air Force Science and Technology (S&T) Program, specifically those S&T programs based here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio.  The United States Air Force is transforming to a capabilities-focused Expeditionary Air and Space Force.  We are doing this through the development of the Concept of Operations for each of the seven major tasks the Air Force must be capable of accomplishing.  Our goal is to make the warfighting effects and the capabilities we need to achieve them the drivers for everything we do. This is especially true in our S&T Program.  We have a high correlation between our S&T programs and the capabilities required by the Concepts of Operations.  This is because the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), headquartered here in Dayton, closely links the technologies reflected in its S&T Plan to warfighter capability needs.    

The United States Air Force and the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) are committed to a robust S&T Program that enables us to achieve our vision of becoming an integrated air and space force capable of rapid and decisive global engagement.  By continuing our investment in transformational technologies that support a reduced cycle-time, spiral development acquisition process, the Air Force will retain its dominance of air and space in future conflicts, against both traditional and asymmetrical threats.

Innovation is a vital part of our heritage and is key to ensuring the Air Force will meet the challenges of tomorrow.  Transforming our warfighting capabilities towards this end will involve continued innovations in how we think about employing our forces to defend our nation, as well as quantum leaps in our technology.  We must be prepared to counter regional instabilities, the worldwide availability of advanced weapons, and other emerging and less predictable asymmetrical threats.  We are developing transformational technologies that permit flexible forces to operate far from home, on short notice, and for extended time periods.  However, we must also be able to afford these innovations once we develop them in order to re-capitalize the Air Force to fulfill our vision.  To meet these objectives, we search out the most promising and affordable technologies in order to win decisively, protect our forces, and minimize collateral damage.

Here at Wright-Patterson AFB and throughout AFMC, our mission is to plan, develop, field, and sustain integrated air and space capabilities for dominant warfighting effects-today and tomorrow.  AFMC accomplishes this mission by executing more than $7 billion of the President's Budget (PB) and by relying on the innovative abilities of its nearly 83,000 government employees, including Air Force officers, enlisted personnel, and civilians.  As well as providing air and space capabilities for dominant warfighting, many of the technologies and products we've developed have greatly impacted our nation's homeland security by providing innovative technology to first-responders, such as firefighters and emergency medical crews.  You'll hear more about these technologies later.

S&T BUDGET/SENIOR LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT

We have been faced with the reality of a fiscally-constrained, but operationally-demanding environment.  The high operations tempo the Air Force has sustained in support of peacekeeping operations and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have placed a great burden on our people and system. 
 

In spite of these requirements, the Air Force is working to increase S&T funding, while maintaining a balanced S&T portfolio.  The Air Force Fiscal Year 2004 PB request for S&T is $2.2 billion, an increase of more than $535 million from the Fiscal Year 2003 PB.  The most significant change in the S&T PB request results from the devolvement of $350 million for several Office of the Secretary of Defense efforts to the Air Force S&T Program.  This includes the High Performance Computing Modernization program, the University Research Initiative program, and the High Energy Laser program.  Another significant addition to S&T in Fiscal Year 2004 is over $150 million for the National Aerospace Initiative.  
 

The Air Force understands the concerns of Congress regarding the level of support for these devolved programs and is working hard to ensure execution of the programs transferred to the Air Force continues to support the diverse multiple military objectives inherent in each of these programs.  Further, the Office of the Secretary of Defense will continue to provide policy guidance and oversight for these efforts.   
 

In conjunction with the increase in S&T funding, there has also been a significant increase in the involvement of the warfighting commands and senior Air Force leadership in the planning, programming, and prioritizing of Air Force S&T.  For example, we have conducted S&T Summits where the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and the Air Force four-stars and other senior leaders review the S&T portfolio.  The latest S&T Summit focused on transformational technologies that can be developed to assist in combating terrorism and other asymmetrical threats.

The Air Force also uses military construction (MILCON) funding to replace its aging base infrastructure.  For example, if you look around here at Wright-Patterson, you'll find numerous MILCON projects aimed at moving our workforce into high-tech research complexes and modernized office facilities.  AFRL's Sensors and Air Vehicles Directorates have recently completed major MILCON projects totaling over $30 million to modernize and upgrade aging research facilities.  The Human Effectiveness Directorate is currently working on a $15 million MILCON project to house the tri-Services toxicology facility, which is slated for completion in the fall of 2003.  The Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) is currently expanding its Acquisition Management Complex and future plans include a new Information Technology Complex to be built in two phases.

 

COMBATING TERRORISM-A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

The war on terror has been waged in far away countries by our soldiers, sailors, and airman, but support for that war begins right here at Wright-Patterson AFB.  Lt Gen Richard Reynolds commands the ASC here in Dayton, which is responsible for the procurement of almost every major weapons system in the Air Force inventory.  Many of these systems have greatly aided the war on terrorism, including the Global Hawk, Predator, and Litening ER and Link 16 programs.

 The Global Hawk team here at Wright-Patterson continues to develop, test, evaluate, and execute program requirements, while simultaneously providing invaluable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to support warfighters in the global war on terrorism.  Global Hawk supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom, flying more than 1,000 hours, taking more than 15,000 high-resolution images through electro-optical, infrared, and synthetic aperture radar sensors in Afghanistan and providing combat capability to the combatant commander in Iraq.  During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Global Hawk flew only three percent of air-breathing imagery intelligence missions and five percent of high-altitude reconnaissance sorties, yet accounted for fifty-five percent of time-sensitive targets generated to kill Iraqi air defense equipment.

The Predator, which was also developed at Wright-Patterson, continues to be an important tool in the prosecution of the war on terrorism, identifying and destroying suspected al-Qaeda terrorist hideouts and vehicles, as well as Iraqi missile support vans and anti-aircraft artillery sites.  During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lt Gen "Buzz" Moseley, Coalition Forces Air Component Commander stated, "Every day we've had Predators over the top of Baghdad looking for surface-to-air missile radars, looking for missile launchers he's got up...and also looking over some of the leadership targets that we struck to help us determine whether we have to re-strike them."  Both the Predator and Global Hawk are highly dependable, sustaining on-time mission capable rates of greater than 95 percent.

Wright-Patterson's F-15 and Precision Strike System Program Offices equipped F-15Es with the extended range Litening ER pod, which allows positive identification of ground targets at much greater distances than the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) targeting pod.  By using the newly fielded Link-16 data communications link, Litening ER passes those targets to flight members and other air-to-ground attack aircraft.  Through a streamlined acquisition process, ASC integrated and tested the pod in just 90 days, awarded the contract three business days after funding, and delivered 20 of 24 pods just five days later, resulting in a significant increase of Operation Iraqi Freedom targets identified and destroyed.

Two other Wright-Patterson efforts worth mentioning are the Stock Control System (SCS) and the Air Force Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW).  Superior logistics support was instrumental to the overall success of OIF, and the SCS used by the Marine Corps was a vital link in the supply chain.  The War Reserve system released 18,875 line item requirements into the SCS, generating issue documents when assets were available for issue and generating the appropriate buy request when assets were not available.  This tool was used by the Marine Corps Inventory Control Point to track the status and action of these requirements to ensure they were provided to support the war effort.  The EDW service was used in several capacities to support OIF, including operational status reporting and contingency planning within the supply and maintenance domains.  Also, EDW is powered by homegrown technology from the NCR Corporation. The NCR Teradata data warehouse technology provides unmatched performance allowing the rapid execution of complex queries on terabytes of data.

WORKFORCE
 

The Air Force scientist and engineer (S&E) workforce is another area where senior Air Force leadership involvement plays a pivotal role.  Both Secretary Roche and Gen Jumper are deeply involved in shaping our future S&E workforce.  Air Force civilian and military S&Es are highly motivated and productive.  The Air Force is unique in that 20 percent of its laboratory S&E government workforce is active duty military.  This gives us a direct link to the warfighter.  Some of these military S&Es come directly from operational commands, while others will serve in operational commands later in their careers.

The Air Force is committed to shaping its S&E workforce with the vision to enhance excellence and relevance of S&T into the 21st Century and appreciates the support Congress has already provided.  This challenge requires the Air Force to maintain a dominant edge in technology and also requires us to provide clear direction and growth for our S&E workforce.  However, we, as do others, find it is difficult to recruit and retain S&Es.  The Air Force has several initiatives, both civilian and military, that address recruitment and retention issues. 

The shortage of S&Es needs the continued involvement of our nation's leaders.  To grow more S&Es, we need to revitalize the nation's aerospace vision and strategy, while encouraging the nation's youth to pursue science and engineering careers.  The Wright Brothers Institute was created to facilitate the development of world class, aerospace science and technology collaborations, involving the best S&Es from government, industry, and academia to enhance our nation's global dominance in air and space.  Operating from the birthplace of aviation, the Institute helps shape the nation's future in air and space by continuing the Wright Brothers' legacy through the 21^st Century.

AFRL was the first laboratory in the Department of Defense (DoD) to take advantage of legislation allowing us to experiment with alternative personnel management systems for our civilian S&Es.  The simplified classification system, broad payband levels, and contribution-based compensation that form the cornerstone of the Air Force Laboratory Demonstration Project have provided AFRL with some key flexibilities and has enabled AFRL to compete with private industry for critical S&E talent.  The contribution-based compensation system provides AFRL managers the ability to properly compensate high contributors.  We will need to consider these flexibilities as we implement the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

We have found that our centers have the greatest difficulty in recruiting high quality minority member scientific and engineering candidates.  We have implemented a command-wide recruitment program targeting this group of highly sought after candidates.  The following is a list of national career fairs that we have attended or plan to attend this year:  Black Engineer of the Year Award Conference; Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Conference; National Society of Black Engineers Conference; and Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Awards Conference.  We provide the resumes that we obtain from these conferences to our center civilian personnel offices as a ready source of high quality applicants.  This targeted recruitment, in conjunction with the hiring flexibilities of the Federal Career Intern Program, is enabling us to make more timely offers to highly sought after S&E graduates.  To ease the confusion that applicants for the AFMC positions can experience, we developed a public web page, which explains what we have to offer and how to apply for specific vacancies.  The page links to each center's public web page for more detailed center explanations.

Other civilian initiatives include the recruitment of college students with critical S&E skills via recruiting incentives, a robust marketing effort, and a co-op central funding program that hires college students while still in school.  Central funding for recruiting bonus and retention allowance for journeyman level S&Es also promises to provide much needed assistance with civilian recruitment and retention.

On the military side, we're employing the Airman Education and Commissioning Program and the Technical Degree Sponsorship Program to recruit additional S&Es into the military workforce.  Bonus programs such as the Critical Skills Retention Bonus are essential to shrinking the current shortfall of military S&Es within the Air Force and the Air Force is currently exploring additional bonus programs.   

The Air Force is committed to its S&Es and recently published a "Concept of Operations for Scientists and Engineers in the United States Air Force."  We also baselined the requirement for the Air Force S&E workforce and, upon analyzing this baseline requirement, found that while our military and civilian authorizations were about right, our actual demographics were seriously short in some key areas.  As such, we are shifting our focus to retaining the workforce we have and infusing it with the vitality of new S&Es to meet tomorrow's need.  During the next seven years, we are investing nearly a third of a billion dollars to support the retention and reshaping of our technological workforce.  As we replenish our S&E workforce, we are providing career guidance and mentoring that will enable us to meet our 21st Century challenge.  Initiatives, such as the special hiring legislation authorized by Congress in Public Law 106-398, which provides "DARPA-like" hiring authority to the Military Departments, should also produce positive results in shaping our S&E workforce.  This authority has only recently been delegated to the Air Force, but we are optimistic about its potential.  And, again, we express our thanks to Congress for your continued support.  

A unique aspect about the S&E environment here at Wright-Patterson is that the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is also located here.  For over 80 years, AFIT has met the ever changing and challenging scientific, engineering, and technical management needs of the Air Force.  AFIT's mission is to produce graduates and engage in research activities that enable the Air Force to maintain its scientific and technological dominance.  Through the accomplishment of this mission, AFIT students and faculty work hand-in-hand with S&Es across the AFRL Technical Directorates here at Wright-Patterson.  AFIT also acts as a pipeline for S&Es to the labs, with more than 260 Air Force officers in the lab owning AFIT degrees.

MAXIMIZING OUR S&T DOLLARS

We will continue to leverage technology to achieve new levels of combat effectiveness.  Our strategy is to pursue integrated technology capabilities that support our warfighter's highest priority needs.  We must also pursue the fundamental enabling technologies that will improve tomorrow's Air Force.  As technological superiority is increasingly a perishable commodity, we work hard to optimize our S&T funding, by not only "inventing the future" ourselves, but also by speeding the introduction of new technologies to our warfighters. 

One way we are doing this is through our Applied Technology Councils and the Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATDs).  The councils are composed of two- and three-star representatives from AFRL, our acquisition product centers, and our major user commands who formally prioritize ATD programs.  We hold an Applied Technology Council meeting with each Major Command twice every year and have commissioned 34 ATDs that have transition funding in the Fiscal Year 2003 budget.  The Applied Technology Council process is extremely important in linking the S&T Program to both the system developers and the operational user.  This process facilitates technology transition to operational use and secures user commitment for resources to do systems design and development and fielding of the technology.  Currently about fifty percent of our Advanced Technology Development (6.3) budget is committed to these programs.

  Since deployed technology may remain in use for decades, the Air Force S&T Program not only focuses on enhancing performance, but also on sustaining our fielded warfighter capabilities.  Emphasizing affordability from the very beginning through training of our management, and science and engineering staff, as well as through an in-depth review of technology development efforts, increases our potential to reduce the costs of technology early in the system development process and throughout a product's life cycle.

We maintain an excellent balance of military, civilian, and contractor expertise, which allows us to be very selective about investing in high payoff technological opportunities.  We constantly seek opportunities to integrate Air Force planning and leverage our S&T funds by cooperating with other Services, Agencies, the private sector, and international partners.  For example, we rely on the Army as the lead Service for defensive chemical-biological technology development.  The Air Force also has strong inter-Agency efforts, such as our program in aging aircraft, which is focused on detection and management of corrosion and fatigue in aging structures.  It is closely coordinated with the civilian aging aircraft research programs at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Our partnership with the industrial and university research base is very strong.  In fact, over seventy percent of our S&T funding goes to universities and private sector contractors.  Finally, the Air Force is involved in international cooperative technology development efforts for S&T, such as the software defined radio development, insensitive high explosives, and aircraft battle damage repair efforts conducted with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.  Another example of international cooperation is the multi-domain network management program with Australia and Canada. This program is developing the concepts and tools for creating and managing secure computer networks with our coalition partners. 

The majority of Air Force S&T is contracted with industry and universities.  This promotes relationships between the scientists and engineers conducting the research and lays the foundation for technology transition.  Strong connections between the technology supplier and the end user help speed transition of technology to the warfighter.  In addition, the various transition programs in which the Air Force participates further cement this foundation.  Air Force technology transition efforts include the previously discussed ATD projects, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) among others. 

The SBIR program funds early-stage efforts at small technology companies.  These programs serve a defense need, but also have the potential for private sector and/or military market commercialization.  A CRADA is an agreement between a government laboratory and a non-federal party under which the laboratory provides personnel, facilities, equipment, or other resources (but not funds) with or without reimbursement and the non-federal party provides funds, people, services, facilities, equipment, or other resources to conduct specific research and development efforts that are consistent with the agency's mission. 

These efforts along with many other programs, such as Dual-Use S&T, Independent Research and Development, Mentor-Protégé, Personnel Exchanges, etc., are mutually beneficial to the Air Force and the contractors and universities with whom we collaborate.  Technology transition is a key component of maximizing the Air Force S&T budget and is vital to our pursuit of national security requirements.  

S&T SUPPORT TO Combating terrorism

While the traditional focus of S&T has been on developing long-term capabilities, the Air Force S&T Program also contributes to the current needs of the nation and our troops deployed in hostile areas.  One example of an Air Force project receiving a great deal of attention since 9/11 is the Exterior Explosive Blast Coating polymer, which was developed by the Air Force to protect key buildings and installations from close proximity explosions, such as air dropped weapons or truck bombs. This easy-to-apply spray coating provides greater structural integrity of exterior walls and prevents dispersion of debris as well as separation of wall elements. This coating is currently being applied to the interior of the outer walls of the Pentagon.

In the war on terror, Air Force Special Tactics Combat Controllers are changing the very nature of warfare.  By performing operations deep in enemy territory, they help determine who the terrorists are, where their weapons are located, and who the innocent civilians are.  Then, they precisely control the elements of airpower to defeat the terrorist threat, while taking care to spare innocent civilian casualties and minimize collateral damage.  Then, these same Special Tactics Combat Controllers are there to provide instant battle damage assessment.  We call these deep engagements, "Battlefield Air Operations (BAO)."

AFMC is providing needed help for these brave Special Tactics Warriors.  AFRL is accelerating new technology to these Special Tactics Warriors in the form of significant improvements to their BAO Kit of equipment.  ASC is providing a Special Tactics System Program Office to assist in rapid procurement of these new BAO Kit items.  The Electronic Systems Center is helping to ensure these new digital machine-to-machine data communications are interoperable with the rest of our Global Grid of military command and control communications systems.  As a result of this AFMC-wide enterprise, our Special Tactics Warriors will soon have a digital machine-to-machine capability that helps to quickly connect the right aircraft, with the right munitions, guided precisely to the right target, at just the right time, to achieve the desired effect.  This new automated process helps to reduce the time it takes to target the terrorist threat, while at the same time reducing human error in the targeting process. 

Working collaboratively with the Special Tactics Warriors, this AFMC "BAO TIGER TEAM" has also partnered with a national team of industry to field significant enhancements of increased capability, while reducing the weight and size of the individual BAO Kit equipment.  They are performing these improvements by developing, prototyping, testing, building, and fielding these BAO Kit improvements in very rapid spirals.  These new BAO capabilities will help to save American lives, and the lives of innocent civilians.  BAO provides a revolutionary and highly effective way to combat the terrorist threat.

One of our premier munitions, Crash PAD (Prompt Agent Defeat), recently transitioned from the munitions lab at Eglin Air Force Base into acquisition.  The objective of the Crash PAD program is to demonstrate a blast/frag multi-purpose warhead that can be used to damage fixed biological and chemical targets, while producing an environment that will mitigate bio agent collateral damage.  The range of applicable targets includes soft to moderately hardened.  This program has the potential to be a significant resource for the warfighter in destroying chemical and biological weapons with minimal effects to civilians.

Working closely with operational users, AFRL researchers in the Materials Directorate here at Wright-Patterson continue to develop and transition new filter technologies that provide improved eye protection for aircrews from varied levels of laser threats.  The Laser Eye Protection program is enabling aircrews to conduct day and night air operations without visual jamming or personal injury.  Within AFRL's Human Effectiveness Directorate, the Integrated Panoramic Night Vision Goggle (IPNVG) program is an initiative to improve the warfighters' safety and operational capability at night by increasing their night vision field of view.  It will also provide protection from laser target designators, laser rangers, and laser threats through compatibility with existing laser eye protection technologies.  The IPNVG technology is transitioning to final development and eventual production through the Fighter Bomber System Program Office of ASC.  The Information Directorate at Rome, New York, is currently developing a Cyber Security System designed to meet the information assurance needs of the military and law enforcement communities.  The finalized system will also implement an enterprise protection plan, which will provide an overall cyber awareness plan, minimizing threats to business and academic networks.

AFRL researchers are also working diligently to bring innovative technology to first-responders in both the military and civilian communities.  As a spin-off of IPNVG technology, the Materials Directorate has recently delivered life-saving vein viewing technology to the medical community.  This vein viewer device will provide both the Air Force and medical community a reliable, accurate, and inexpensive point-of-care device for use in conditions where the lighting is less than optimal, such as battlefield and accident scenes.  Other Materials initiatives include Emergency Response Casualty Location, which reduces risk to first-responders by identifying unstable areas, as well as a number of improved firefighting technologies, including new firefighting agents, an advanced firefighting vehicle that includes robotic operated stand-off capability, and evolutionary command and control technologies integrated into firefighter helmets.

Another lab technology application with potential use by first-responders is the Vehicular Mounted Active Denial System (VMADS).  A joint development with the U.S. Marine Corps, VMADS is a defensive millimeter wave system used for perimeter defense applications.  VMADS is a directed energy weapon that emits a non-lethal, non-damaging beam, which heats up the skin of a potential enemy when in close proximity to the system. The resulting temporary pain causes the person to flee.

The Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico has applied ultra-wide band, short pulse microwave technology to design a detection and identification of concealed weapons device, developed for use in urban combat and hostage situations.  This technology will allow both warfighters and first-responders the ability to see through walls to locate and identify weapons.  While providing critical support at the location of the 9/11 World Trade Center incident, the Information Directorate successfully transitioned mobile communications capability technology to an immediate real-world application.  In addition to diverse logistical and planning support, the Directorate contributed to the provision of overhead imagery of Ground Zero and transitioned the Joint Defensive Planner to operational use, thus enabling first time visualization capabilities of all aircraft flight plan profiles and information sharing between the FAA and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).  The 10^th Mountain Division was requested and deployed with the Portable Interactive Datawall to Afghanistan, while obtaining a second system for Continental United States (CONUS) collaboration.

One final example of Air Force technology with first-responder application is the Joint Firefighter Integrated Response Ensemble (J-FIRE).  Developed by the 311^th Human Systems Wing at Brooks City-Base in Texas, J-FIRE is state-of-the-art firefighting clothing, designed to provide chemical/biological (CB) protection during firefighting operations.  Combining previous CB protective garments with firefighting gear created severe and debilitating heat stress that was magnified and compounded by the nature and environment of firefighting duties.  Testing of the J-FIRE system has shown that the ensemble provides chemical protection equivalent to standard CB garments and fire protection approved by the National Fire Protection Association without inflicting increased heat stress and bulk that would limit firefighter performance.  

WORLD CLASS RESEARCH

The quality of our program is assessed by the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) through yearly reviews.  The SAB conducts an in-depth review of half of the S&T Program each year, covering the entire program over a two-year period.  Twelve technical areas have been identified as world class research during the last cycle of reviews -- let me highlight a few of these areas that were identified as world class.

The Directed Energy Directorate's Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, is leading the adaptive optics research for use in large ground-based telescopes to image satellites and propagate laser beams through the atmosphere.  This will enable high-quality, ground-based observations of space objects and propagation of laser beams through a turbulent atmosphere.  Astronomical images using this technology can rival those obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Our Propulsion Directorate's Hypersonics Technology (HyTech) work here at Wright-Patterson AFB is acknowledged by the SAB as world class and it's a cornerstone of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Director of Defense Research and Engineering's (DDR&E's) National Aerospace Initiative.  Our HyTech program has continued to advance the state-of-the-art in scramjet engines and conducted the first ever ground test demonstration of a scramjet producing positive net thrust back in 2001.  In February 2003, HyTech tested a flight weight scramjet Ground Demonstration Engine operating at Mach 4.5.  While the 2001 Performance Test Engine used copper heat-sink hardware and weighted 1,500 pounds, the 2003 Ground Demonstration Engine used JP-7 fuel to cool the scramjet engine walls and weighed less than 150 pounds.  This marked another first for the HyTech program-demonstrating the structural durability of a hydrocarbon fueled, actively cooled scramjet.  Testing at Mach 6.5 was recently completed in June 2003.  Pratt & Whitney developed this particular engine in collaboration with Air Force scientists and engineers. 

Another SAB-rated world class research program is the Warfighter Skill Development and Training efforts worked by our Human Effectiveness Directorate at Brooks City-Base, Texas.  Distributed mission training will provide an integrated set of training, simulation, and mission rehearsal technologies that will improve warfighter capabilities and mission readiness by enhancing operator and team performance skills.  Technologies will increase operational readiness by providing more effective methods and approaches to train and assess personnel.  These technologies will contribute to a more highly trained and flexible cadre of personnel at a reduced cost.

Our research in Electro-Optic Warfare, also here at Wright-Patterson, will allow future laser-based sensor systems to penetrate moderate cloud cover, obscurants, and camouflage.  This will provide improved target detection and identification for our weapon systems.  "See and Avoid" sensors will ease restrictions on unmanned air vehicle operations in civilian airspace and allow autonomous operation in conjunction with manned aircraft.  These technologies may also be applied as low-cost missile warning sensors to affordably protect military and commercial aircraft from surface-to-air missiles.  Also, experimental research in infrared countermeasures is developing threat adaptive techniques for robust defeat of current and future infrared weapons and sensors.

At Edwards Air Force Base, California, the Propulsion Directorate is working on world class research in polynitrogen propellants.  The goal is to enable high performance monopropellant rocket propulsion systems with revolutionary performance.  By improving the specific impulse of the propellant, we will have environmentally benign exhaust and reduced signatures.  This could potentially improve storage, manufacturing, and rocket engine size.

The Materials Directorate's Laser Hardened Materials effort leads the world in the development and evaluation of laser protection technologies and devices.  This world class, multidisciplinary team is the world leader in the development of laser protection for sensors and eye protection, and their work on biotechnology, specifically biomimetics, has been ground-breaking.

Wright-Patterson's Air Vehicles Directorate has also performed world class rated research in the area of Sustainment for Capabilities Enhancement.  This research area provides enhanced capabilities for two programs supporting the C-17 program:  Weapon Bay Flow Control and Active Core Exhaust (ACE).  The Weapon Bay Flow Control program is developing technology for suppressing flight instabilities caused when the weapon bay door is open in flight.  The ACE program is developing technology to remove the engine core thrust reverser, thus improving maintainability, reducing operations and support costs and lowering overall air vehicle weight.

TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

There are many other Air Force technology areas that deserve special mention.  Let me highlight just a few examples.  First, there's our transformational communications technology development program, whose laser communications technology efforts promise to increase data transfer rates at least ten-fold compared to current radio frequency communications systems.  Additionally, laser communications uses a narrow beam, which decreases the likelihood of intercept and increases resistance to jamming.  While laser communications have a high potential to revolutionize satellite communications, there are technical challenges to overcome such as precision pointing and tracking, weather constraints, and adapting the equipment for use in space.  We continue to work on the technology challenges and are also conducting a study to determine the best architecture for implementing laser communications technologies to complement and integrate with radio frequency-based systems.

 To increase aircraft survivability and operational efficiencies, the Air Force is developing both manned (F/A-22 and Joint Strike Fighter) and unmanned flight vehicles that can carry and employ weapons from both external and internal weapons bays.  To increase the number of weapons the flight vehicle can fit into their internal weapons bays, part of our investment strategy focuses S&T funding on developing and demonstrating smaller precision weapons.

One of the small munitions currently being flight demonstrated at Eglin Air Force Base is the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS).  The LOCAAS is a 100-pound class powered munition of which the primary target set is moving and relocatable targets.  This Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) program will demonstrate the effectiveness and military utility of this type of munition for the Lethal Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), Theater Missile Defense (TMD) Attack Operations, and Armor/Interdiction mission areas.  LOCAAS will integrate a laser radar precision terminal seeker with autonomous target recognition algorithms, a multi-modal warhead, Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS) mid-course guidance, and a miniature turbine engine with a fly-out range of 100 miles.  This ATD program will complete five flight tests by the end of Fiscal Year 2003, culminating in a planned autonomous flight with active seeker and warhead against a real target.  The first flight test was successfully completed on February 4, 2002, and demonstrated the powered flight envelope, GPS waypoint navigation, and simulated attack of a SEAD target.  The second flight test, successfully completed on November 4, 2002, was a guided LOCAAS that demonstrated real-time autonomous search, and automatic target acquisition algorithms that could detect, identify, and simulate attack against a TMD target. 

Plans are also being made in Fiscal Year 2004 to conduct a cooperative program with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) using the LOCAAS vehicle.  A test program on the RAAF F-111 aircraft in Australia is scheduled for the first quarter of the fiscal year.  This will be an important test for both nations - the U.S. is able to test munitions release at supersonic speeds and Australia benefits from the test results.   These results could enable maturation of the computational simulation codes for separation of symmetric and asymmetric miniature weapons, providing for a reduction in the risk and cost of weapons certification efforts for aircraft with internal weapons bays such as the F/A-22, Joint Strike Fighter, and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs). 

To continue the trend of miniaturization of space platforms, the Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have provided funding to ten universities to explore the military utility of innovative, low-cost nanosatellites.  These nanosatellites, weighing two to ten kilograms, could demonstrate efforts such as differential GPS navigation, miniaturized sensors, and micropropulsion technologies.  In December 2002, two "pico satellites" weighing slightly more than two pounds each were successfully released from a specialized spring-loaded launcher assembly mounted on the sidewall of the Space Shuttle Endeavor.  This was the joint Air Force/DARPA-developed PICOSAT Inspector experiment to demonstrate a significant step forward in the development of an on-board autonomous inspection capability.

The Air Force is also conducting the Experimental Satellite System (XSS) series to demonstrate increasing levels of microsatellite technology maturity.  The XSS-10 is the first microsatellite in the series and was launched on schedule during Fiscal Year 2003.   It demonstrated semi‑autonomous operations and visual inspection in close proximity of an object in space-in this case a Delta II upper stage.   In Fiscal Year 2004, we plan to launch XSS-11, which will demonstrate autonomous operations and provide experience with command and control in proximity operations to another space object. 

One of the most transformational and quickly deployable technologies available today is command, control, and communications technology, also known as information technology.  This technology is at the heart of our Moving Target Indicator Exploitation program, which is developing web-enabled automated tools to exploit data from current and future sensor systems such as the Joint Surface Target Attack Radar System, better known as JSTARS.  The effort is focused on four technology areas:  ground moving target tracking; motion pattern analysis; behavioral pattern analysis; and sensor resource allocation and scheduling, which provide the capability to track moving targets and get the information to the operations center.  This system is in southwest Asia today.

AFRL's Air Vehicles Directorate is developing transformational technology in the area of autonomous flight operations, specifically auto aerial refueling to extend the operational range of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).  The application of autonomous control technology provides a powerful tool to the warfighter by providing on-site, rapid, robust, and adaptive response to changing situations and battlefield environments.  UAVs could be refueled in order to extend operational range and safe operations around a tanker (either manned or unmanned) require high levels of coordination and precision maneuvering.  Technologies for safe airspace operations are being developed, initially focusing on UCAV transition, but maintaining ultimate relevance for all categories of UAVs. 

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES

In recent years, we have all come to appreciate the success of unmanned vehicles.  We hear over and over again the tremendous operational advantages that systems such as Predator and Global Hawk are bringing to warfighters from all Services.  Over the first two decades of the 21st Century, advances in micro unmanned air vehicles will provide significant additional capabilities to our Armed Forces.  Micro air vehicles utilize advances in microscale aerodynamics, electronic miniaturization, munitions, and propulsion to package sensory and weapons payloads into highly reliable, on-demand systems.  These systems will provide unprecedented levels of situational awareness in the most severe threat environments.  Whether we are operating in urban environments, sensing bio-chemical dispersion through the atmosphere, or looking over the next hill, our troops will have the awareness needed to fight and survive.  These systems will provide the persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in high threat environments needed by our troops on the ground and our airmen in the air.  When called for, swarms of these vehicles will cooperate together to generate both lethal and nonlethal effects.

In the next 50 years, advancements in nanotechnology will provide the greatest change in how man operates since the invention of powered flight itself.  Nanotechnology is a science and a series of disciplines that works at the atomic and molecular level to create structures, materials, and devices through improved molecular organization.  By working with elements at the level of nanometer scale, we have access to the building blocks of nature.  This will fundamentally change the way materials and devices will be produced in the future.  The ability to synthesize nanoscale building blocks with precisely controlled size and composition and to then assemble them into larger structures with unique properties and functions will revolutionize segments of the materials and device industry.  The benefits that nanostructuring can bring include lighter, stronger, and programmable materials; reductions in life cycle costs through lower failure rates; innovative devices based on new principles and architectures; nanosensors and nanoprocessors; and use of molecular/cluster manufacturing, which takes advantage of assembly at the nanoscale level for a given purpose.

Another significant breakthrough technology that will change the way we develop systems is our work in biotechnology.  Biology has developed unique materials and processes that may be exploited in non-biological systems.  We are studying the fundamental science necessary to incorporate biological components and organisms into Air Force systems.  For example, in biomimetics, we research the adaptation of natural biological sensor in reptiles.  The natural infrared sensors in reptiles do not need to be cooled.  We hope to adapt this biological process to Air Force sensor applications that normally require cryogenic cooling.

SECTION 253 STUDY

Section 253 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, Public Law 107-107, directed the Air Force, in cooperation with the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, to carry out a study to determine the effect of Science and Technology (S&T) program changes of the past two years.  The findings contained in the written report prepared by the Air Force Science and Technology Board (AFSTB) of the National Research Council indicate that overall the Air Force has made considerable progress during the past two years in strengthening its S&T Program.  This report noted that great progress has been achieved in increasing the visibility of the S&T portfolio within the Air Force through the new S&T Summits, the Applied Technology Councils, and the transfer of S&T budget management to Air Force Materiel Command.  At the same time, the AFSTB does challenge us to continue working to stabilize our funding levels, strengthen our workforce, and reestablish the development planning process.  As the report indicates, however, we have already begun many initiatives targeted towards strengthening these areas and will continue to pursue them in the future.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the Air Force and all of us here at Wright-Patterson AFB are fully committed to providing this nation with the advanced air and space technologies required to meet America's national security interests around the world and to ensure we remain on the cutting edge of system performance, flexibility, and affordability.  The technological advantage we enjoy today is a legacy of decades of investment in S&T.  Likewise, our future warfighting capabilities will be substantially determined by today's investment in S&T.  As we face the new millennium, our challenge is to advance technologies for an Expeditionary Air and Space Force as we continue to move aggressively into the realm of space activities.  The Air Force is confident that we can lead the discovery, development, and timely transition of affordable, transformational technologies that keep our Air Force the best in the world.   As an integral part of the Department of Defense's S&T team, we look forward to working with Congress to ensure a strong Air Force S&T Program tailored to achieve our vision of an integrated air and space force.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again, for the opportunity to present written testimony, and thank you for your continuing support of the Air Force S&T Program.