Open Skies Treaty Aircraft Recap

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 increasing 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in June 2016 indicated that key requirements within the 1992 Open Skies Operational Requirements Document were no longer current, and that the OC-135B had known capability performance gaps in range and mission completion.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 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 Treaty program needs for the foreseeable future. Second, it recommended an Air Force solution that best satisfied required capabilities within existing materiel solutions. The Joint Capabilities Board adopted the Air Force recommendation and directed acquisition of two small airliner class aircraft for the Open Skies Treaty Aircraft Recap (OSTAR) 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. This effort includes the design, development, and test activities for two OC-135B replacement weapon systems. This effort will modify a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified, commercial-off-the-shelf, small airliner class aircraft. System Development requires structural design, interphone communications systems, flight deck avionics and modification to incorporate the Digital Visual Imaging System (DVIS). This program element may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver the OC-135B Open Skies Treaty weapon system capability. The use of such programs funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program element 0605831F. In FY20 $0.000M was expended for civilian pay expenses in this program element, and in FY21 $0.000M is forecasted for civilian pay expenses in this program element.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2022
• Source ID: 674283_0305145F_7_3600_PB_2022

Tags

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering
• Civilian Systems Systems Program Capability Development and Upgrade Support Activity Expense and Pay Management.
• Strategic Security Studies