Arms Control Implementation

Abstract

The Open Skies Treaty permits unarmed overflight of the sovereign territory of 34 signatory nations. The Treaty enhances mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging on military forces and activities of concern. Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international arms control efforts to date to promote openness and transparency in military forces and activities. The Department of Defense is responsible for oversight, implementation of, and compliance with, arms control agreements, including the Open Skies Treaty. The United States Air Force has a requirement to execute missions under the Open Skies Treaty and utilizes two OC-135B aircraft as the observation aircraft. All roles and responsibilities are called out in Presidential Policy Directive 15, "Implementation of the Treaty on Open Skies,” Mar 1, 2012. The OC-135B fleet has experienced decreasing mission reliability due to age, difficulties with out-of-production parts, and increased operating costs. Open Skies missions averaged a 65% mission completion rate over the ten-year period from 2007 to 2017 with leading non-mission capable drivers being the engines, fuel system, landing gear, generators, and airframe. Additionally, the OC-135B aircraft's 6,500 km range is insufficient to fully execute mission options within the 96-hour in-country Treaty observation time constraint permitted under Treaty. The Department of Defense, motivated by operational limitations of the OC-135B experienced during Open Skies missions combined with declining mission capability, prompted program officials to request a Capabilities-Based Assessment in July 2015 to study aircraft issues. The effort which completed in June 2016 indicated that key requirements within the 1992 Open Skies Operational Requirements Document were no longer current, and that the OC-135B had known capability performance gaps in range and mission completion. In October 2016, the Air Force secured permission to develop a Doctrine, Organization, Training, materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities and Policy Change Recommendation for the Open Skies Treaty Aircraft. The process used a multi-disciplinary High Performance Team to create and validate a series of required capabilities for an Open Skies aircraft, evaluate aircraft that could satisfy the required capabilities, and then consider each of the Doctrine, Organization, Training, materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities and Policy elements as part of a recommended solution. The effort accomplished two main purposes. First, it updated operational requirement and replaced the 1992 Operational Requirements Document to reflect both operational experience and expected Open Skies program needs for the foreseeable future. Second, it recommend an Air Force solution that best satisfied required capabilities within existing materiel solutions. The Joint Capabilities Board adopted the Air Force recommendation directed acquisition of two small airliner class aircraft for the Open Skies Treaty mission to be acquired in a method consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and other applicable guidance, training using existing contractor training facilities, equipment, and curriculum, and a maintenance concept with military personnel performing unit-level maintenance actions with contractor support for parts supply, and supply chain management, performed under a Low Utilization Maintenance Program. As directed in the FY 2018 NDAA, Sec 825, amendment to PL 114-92 FY 2016 NDAA, Sec 828 Penalty for Cost Overruns, the FY 2018 Air Force penalty total is $14.373M. The calculated percentage reduction to each research, development, test and evaluation and procurement account will be allocated proportionally from all programs, projects, or activities under such account. This program is in Budget Activity 7, Operational System Development because this budget activity includes development efforts to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full rate production and anticipate production funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2020
• Source ID: 0305145F_7_3600_PB_2020
• Change Summary Explanation: The FY2020 PB requests funding for the purchase of the second of two planned aircraft to be incrementally funded across the FYDP. The FY 2020 FYDP reflects additional RDT&E funding instead of Procurement funding to comply with Department of Defense Financial Management Policies based on the technical requirements.
• Service Agency Name: Air Force

Entities

Organizations

• United States Air Force

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Air Platforms
• Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Acquisition
• Air Force
• Aircrafts
• Airframes
• Arms Control
• Commercial Aircraft
• Contracts
• Department Of Defense
• Doctrine
• Education
• Military Personnel
• Observation Aircraft
• Procurement
• Supply Chain
• Supply Chain Management
• Test And Evaluation
• Training

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering
• Strategic Security Studies