Dominant Logistics
Military Roles for the Boeing 767
There are a variety of missions that are required to support air operations throughout the world. Whether it's tanker support, AWACS, JSTARS, or any of other supporting roles, we need a single platform that can be adapted to a variety of supporting roles. Currently, most of these roles are filled by variants of the Boeing 707, an aircraft developed and built in the 1950s. With maintenance and operating costs for these aging platforms going through the roof, it's time to re-evaluate our aerial support operations.
Boeing currently offers an ideal replacement for the 707 family of aircraft in the 767. The 767 features intercontinental range and is available in a variety of configurations. Models are already available for tanker operations as well as AWACS. But we need to take our support operations beyond the conventional mindset we currently practice. Let's start with the basic additional features that all military 767s should possess.
Communications Relays
To augment our communications bandwidth, all 767 support aircraft should be equipped with communications relays similar to those employed on the current E-2C. These relays should also include circuitry to support conventional cellular communications as well as compatibility with off-the-shelf satellite phones. Ideally this system should be based on the future JTRS digital radio system.
Reconnaissance Optics
Each 767 should also include a basic level of real-time reconnaissance optics. This should include daylight as well as infrared optics. No film will be required as all video will be stored on computer or broadcast through existing communications channels as needed.
Extrapolated GPS Support
Given the vulnerability of existing GPS to jamming and anti-satellite systems, we need to expedite development of Extrapolated GPS. Conventional GPS relies on signals from satellites being triangulated to compute a given location on Earth. Aircraft are less susceptible to GPS jamming at high altitudes and also feature inertial navigation systems as well. For E-GPS, these aircraft will be able to broadcast a higher wattage, jam-resistant signal that modified GPS recievers can use to determine their location. Even if GPS satellites are disabled, the aircraft can still use INS to generate the signal. While this approach will lack the accuracy of GPS, it will be accurate enough for military use because a greater quantity of signals will be available to provide a better computation.
Aerial Towing System
While the primary aircraft for ATS support will be the KC-33A, each 767 variant should also be equipped to tow one aircraft from a line off of the rear of the fuselage. While this may not seem like much, a major deployment can involve hundreds of these support aircraft and if each pulls a single fighter along for the ride, that's hundreds of additional fighters that will be ready to go without requiring pilots to play the two-day He-Man routine.
And it should go without saying that all 767 variants will need to be capable of aerial refueling.
Tanker Variant
The currently available 767 tanker should be more than sufficient to meet the current needs of the tanker force. Additional tanker support will be available from the KC-33A fleet so the existing tanker with the aforementioned options installed should suite the bill for the rest of our refueling needs.
Electronic Warfare Variant
While there is currently a 767 AWACS system available, I think we need to move away from the conventional AWACS concept. We need to merge the concepts of AWACS and JSTARS into a single EW package; if this means losing some capacity in each aircraft, so be it because we'll be making up the difference in total aircraft. Modern Electronically Scanned Arrays (ESAs) offer far more capability than conventional airborne radars and this is capability that we need. An ESA version of AWACS is already available for the Boeing 737 so modifying it for operations in a 767 should be a non-issue. Adding a second ESA on the belly of the fuselage will allow us to dramatically improve our airborne support operations or to conduct ground support operations (J-STARS) as well. ESA also brings the option of using the radar array for jamming as a self-defense tool.
Cargo Variant
A freight version of the 767 is also available and should be purchased in a modest quantity. The military has extensive day-to-day support missions that must be addressed and this platform should fit the bill well. It can carry up to 60 tons of materials or we could use seating pallets like those available for other cargo aircraft. This is a far more cost-effective option than using expensive military transports for small tasks that don't require the high-end capabilities. We can also buy a larger fleet of these and rotate them through a civilian leasing program so they would be available in time of war without maintaining an excessively large active-duty fleet.
The CX Buy Concept
An idea from Carlton Meyer appears to be the best option available to control costs in purchasing these aircraft. With the CX Buy, a flexible purchase contract would be made with Boeing that would establish a set minimum of aircraft that the military would recieve each year with the option of purchasing additional aircraft if Boeing is unable to gather sales on the civilian market. Large aircraft require a lead time of years to build and this would allow Boeing to obtain parts at a set rate for an extended period. If the civilian sales are there, the DoD would get the minimum number of aircraft in the contract while the rest get sold on the civilian market. If the sales aren't there, Boeing provides DoD with a higher quantity of aircraft that year. Between the 767 variants and the 747 variants (KC-33A and ABL), the DoD will be requiring around 850 large aircraft. With this flexible purchasing program, DoD would get a fixed bottom dollar price in exchange for giving Boeing the flexibility to capitalize on changes in the aircraft marketplace.
References:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-767-mc2a.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/kc-x.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/kc-767.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/b767.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/e-737.htm
http://jtrs.army.mil/
http://www.g2mil.com/Boeing.htm