{"id":57414,"date":"2020-05-27T20:41:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T20:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/27\/air-force-looking-to-up-gun-its-airlift-planes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:10:14","slug":"air-force-looking-to-up-gun-its-airlift-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/05\/27\/air-force-looking-to-up-gun-its-airlift-planes\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force looks to up-gun its airlift planes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/12\/25\/this-tiny-transport-aircraft-is-getting-a-makeover\/\" target=\"_blank\">Humble airlift planes<\/a> like the C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III could become heavily-armed weapons trucks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/farnborough\/2016\/07\/10\/as-air-force-shrinks-officials-look-for-new-ways-to-amass-firepower\/\" target=\"_blank\">capable of airdropping large bundles of munitions<\/a> that deliver a massive blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, the Air Force has conducted two successful tests of \u201cpalletized munitions\u201d from the C-130 and C-17, said Maj. Gen. Clint Hinote, the deputy director of the service\u2019s Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are in discussions right now about how do we proceed to prototyping and fielding,\u201d he said during a May 27 event held by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like the name suggests, palletized munitions are a collection of weapons strapped together onto a smart pallet, which would feed the munitions tracking and targeting information as they are dropped from an airlift platform. A request for information released in February characterized the technology as \u201ca bomb bay in a box\u201d that could allow mobility aircraft to stay out of a threat zone and launch a mass of standoff weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2020\/01\/06\/what-if-air-force-tankers-became-a-communications-node\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5980260.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What if Air Force tankers became a communications node?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Aerial refueling tankers could play a role in the Air Force&#039;s advanced battle management system.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s all about capacity,\u201d Hinote explained. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to create enough capacity so that a long-range punch is really a punch. What we see is that no matter how big our bomber force is, the capacity that the joint force needs is always more and more. And so this is why we think that there is a real possibility here for using cargo platforms to be able to increase the capacity of fires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force Special Operations Command conducted one demonstration of the technology on Jan. 28, when a MC-130J performed three airdrops of simulated palletized munitions at at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn this case, munitions stacked upon wooden pallets, or Combat Expendable Platforms (CEPs), deployed via a roller system,\u201d the Air Force Research Laboratory said in a May 27 release. \u201cAFSOC aircrew released five CEPs rigged with six simulated munitions, the same mass as the actual weapons, including four Cargo Launch Expendable Air Vehicles with Extended Range (CLEAVERs) across a spectrum of low and high altitude airdrops.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to questions from Defense News, AFRL clarified that simulated long-range cruise missiles were deployed from an off-the-shelf pallet system as well as an Air Force designed crate system. CLEAVER is a new weapon under development by the lab as part of a separate effort, though it may be used in palletized munitions in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Feb. 27, Air Mobility Command conducted a similar demonstration with a C-17, which conducted two airdrops of simulated palletized munitions, AFRL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In future demonstrations, AFSOC plans to release more advanced forms of simulated munitions as well as full-up weapons vehicles that can be configured with a warhead and terminal guidance system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the Air Force is looking for other technological options. Through its request for information, which closed in April, the service sought data about new or existing palletized munitions concepts. The service hopes to use that information to inform future experimentation efforts, operational assessments or the acquisition palletized munitions systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five companies responded to the RFI, AFRL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the effort moves forward, one big question will be figuring out which entities in the Air Force have command over a mobility asset that is playing a combat role more similar to a fighter jet or bomber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome kind of extremely streamlined command and control is going to be necessary, or else you must have an integrator somewhere,\u201d said Hinote, who added that cultural barriers inside the Air Force could be harder to overcome than the technological challenges of creating palletized munitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hinote also acknowledged that it currently may be hard to find the funding to move forward with a new program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re in the last year of an administration. We\u2019ve had to turn in the budget early with not too many changes, and we\u2019re looking at the possibility of a continuing resolution where new starts are going to be difficult to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, \u201cthat is all temporary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Updated 5\/28\/20 to add more information from AFRL about past palletized munitions experiments.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two demonstrations of a new &#8220;palletized munitions&#8221; concept have shown promise, an Air Force general 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