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How does one go about requesting an airstrike from the USAF? Is there a form that you need to fill out? Asking for a friend. Seriously though, it would be inter
by theBobBob 9y ago
How does one go about requesting an airstrike from the USAF? Is there a form that you need to fill out? Asking for a friend.
Seriously though, it would be interesting to know how that conversation went.
- scrumper 9y agoPerhaps via FAA which regulates and approves SpaceX activities?
- drewpc 9y agoThere actually is a form. It's called a Joint Tactical Airstrike Request (JTAR). That request is put through the appropriate approval process and then added to the Air Tasking Order (ATO) cycle that allocates aircraft and munitions to conduct the strike. After the aircraft and munitions have been allocated, then the detailed planning occurs to ensure the aircraft are in the appropriate location to conduct the strike at the time requested. An example of the form is shown in the below link, which is an excerpt from Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-23 "Offensive Air Support": https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/usmc/mcwp/3-23/appc.pdf https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/usmc/...
- jonwachob91 9y ago>>> All U.S. Armed Forces use the JTAR Request Form (DD Form 1972) to request CAS SpaceX isn't a branch of the US Armed Forces, and neither is NASA...
- ChuckMcM 9y agoBut both the Coast Guard and the Navy are, and either may have been the 'sponsor' of removing something, with the owner's permission, that was a hazard to navigation or sea operations. And rather than SpaceX asking, I wonder if the conversation was more, "Are you going to go get that or not? Because if not we're going to sink it." And when the drone recovery vessel returned to port with engine troubles (cited in the article) SpaceX would have reported "Our equipment is down so we're not going to get it right away." And the decision may have been taken out of their hands.
- drawnwren 9y agoAll correct, although one other angle might have been the protection of US space technology. Even though SpaceX is private, I believe their technology is not exportable.
- dtparr 9y agoThat's correct, it's covered by ITAR.
- ChuckMcM 9y agoI did not even think about the ITAR issue, but yeah it isn't like there aren't people out there that would love to pick up a booster with 9 re-usable engines in it. I've always been amused at the bureaucracy getting ITAR licenses to "export" rockets into orbit. But that was when their destruction was assured when they returned.
- tbabb 9y ago> people out there that would love to pick up a booster with 9 re-usable engines in it. Makes me think of the early Keyhole spy satellite program, which returned exposed film to Earth in a capsule. The capsule was to be caught mid-air, and if the catch failed, the capsule would float for five minutes and then sink, with the intent of destroying the sensitive data. It was discovered that Russian subs were circling under the drop zone.
- zitterbewegung 9y agoI would assume they have someone to contact because I think they are a vendor for the USAF for government contracts. It would be interesting to be in that meeting though. Probably would be more boring than actually the fun that I am imagining .
- corprew 9y ago"we cannot retrieve the item referred to in section #.#.#.# in the timeframe specified in section #.#.#.#, please follow previously agreed upon contingency plan #.#.#.#"?
- FussyZeus 9y agoSpaceX has tons of dealings with both, though. I highly doubt it's something SpaceX could just do on their own, but it seems completely reasonable that they would have the channels to the correct people to arrange it, especially given the dangers they'd outlined that it posed.
- mulmen 9y agoIt's not clear to me that phrasing excludes non-military from submitting the form, only that military branches do use it.
- dhimes 9y agoPerfect! Thanks! I'll fix that asshole neighbor of mine...
- omginternets 9y agoAnd where would one submit this form once it's filled out? Having the form is one thing, actually being able to file it is another, no?
- emh68 9y agoElon was probably having a beer with some Air Force brass and they were like “hey you really want to pay for disposal of that thing? Or... I’m sure some of our boys would love to use that for target practice.”
- gene-h 9y agoSpaceX probably did not request an air strike. This might be a case of weird rules for dealing with range safety. That is making sure the area around the rocket range is safe. As this was a military launch, the US Air Force Space Command was in charge of range safety[0]. Since the Air Force was responsible for range safety, they were also probably responsible for dealing with the navigation hazard the rocket presented. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- frankydp 9y agoThe Eastern Range would certainly have processed the making safe of the un-safed booster. I am sure this scenario was in the Debris Risk Analysis or some other preflight documentation, required by the range. I believe the 45th is responsible for range safety at the Eastern Range for all launches, regardless of mission or customer. http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/afspc/publication/afspcman91-710v2/afspcman91-710v2.pdf http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/afspc/publica...
- bsder 9y agoDude, if you asked the lowest airman "Hey, we have this awesome thing and we need you folks to blow it up. How do we do that?" that request would go up the full command chain at supersonic speed. The military moves like lightning when it's 1) something they really want to do or 2) something egregiously stupid.
- craftyguy 9y ago> 1) something they really want to do or 2) something egregiously stupid. Those really aren't two separate conditions.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]