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| A UH-1Y Huey takes off alongside an AH-1W Super Cobra during a training exercise testing a digital interoperability system at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. July 24, 2015. |
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| Digital Interoperability Speeds up the Kill Chain n |
Digital interoperability is the technology capable of increasing prowess on the battlefield. The exercise testing a LINK 16 conversion system for one of the first times within an explicitly rotary-wing exercise included
- Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467,[HMLA-467] consists of AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters.
- Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2, [VMU-2] is an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron in the United States Marine Corps that operates the RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-21A Blackjack. The RQ-21A is the military variant of the commercial Boeing Insitu Integrator
and - U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, [MarSOC] is a component command of the United States Special Operations Command that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Its core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense. MARSOC has also been directed to conduct counter-terrorism, and information operations.[2]
“For the rotary-wing aircraft, up until recently, the Marine Corps has been using paper maps and objective area diagrams to plot friendly and enemy locations using a pen or pencil,” said Marron. “Now with tablets, we have modern technology in an aircraft that is 30 years old. It allows us to tap into a tactical picture that was previously out of our reach.”
Assets that are LINK 16 capable can send information to unmanned aerial systems ground control stations, which acts as a network gateway to then push out specific information in a readable format to non-LINK 16 enabled aircraft. Those aircraft can then see that information, provided they are carrying a specific radio and tablet running an application called “KILSWITCH” (Kinetic Integration Lightweight Software Individual Tactical Combat Handheld).
Systems that monitor the aircraft’s status can also be tapped into and that information can be transmitted off the aircraft. “In the future, it will tell how much fuel an aircraft has and how many weapons it possesses,” said Capt. Christopher Cain, a pilot training officer with HMLA-467.
Additionally, there are efforts underway to integrate technologies that will have the ability to populate threats. “If one aircraft can see a threat, it can notify everyone connected, show how far away and how to stay away to mitigate it … It will speed-up the kill chain.”
Related/Background:
- Understanding Link 16 - Understanding_Voice+Data_Link_Networking.pdf
- Tactical data link puts Marine units on the same page -- Defense Systems
- Army Faces Decisions About Airborne Radio
The Army has already fielded an airborne radio that carries Link 16. Through a sole-source procurement in 2013, the Army selected a two-channel radio co-developed by ViaSat and Harris, the small tactical terminal, (STT) for the AH-64E Apache helicopter.
The Army launched a Small Airborne Link 16 Terminal (SALT) program, intended only for the AH64E, though an anticipated request for proposals for SALT was put on hold while the Army determines whether the AH64E needs and SRW channel on the SALT or equivalent radio in addition to the SRW capability the SANR provides.
"Getting Link 16 into that aircraft is absolutely critical," Hughes said. "Whether we have Link 16 and SRW, the Army is looking at the requirement to make sure we have it right and we have a plan to go forward."
"You have SANR to all the helicopters and SALT to just the Apaches and you have solutions out there to give them the Link 16 capabilities," said Col. James Ross, project manager for tactical radios. "It's a matter of whether we go to the SALT program for that or another means the aviation community will be able to do."
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