Raptors Test Networking, Air and Ground

Raptors Test Networking, Air and Ground: Usin

g two specially configured F-22s during the latest Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment, the Air Force demonstrated it could transfer real-time sensor data acquired by the new fighters to ground stations at JEFX central at Nellis AFB, Nev., and Langley AFB, Va., according to a May 2 release from F-22-lead contractor Lockheed Martin. The two-week JEFX included two F-22s outfitted with “an experimental version of the Tactical Targeting Network Technology waveform developed by Rockwell Collins,” states Lockheed, adding that the F-22s flew in “realistic scenarios” that highlighted the Raptor’s “significant non-traditional intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance capabilities.” According to Lockheed F-22 general manager Larry Lawson, “This is the first time in history that F-22 sensor data was down-linked to the combined air operations center using a tactical network.” According to the company release, the effort required both the Air Force and Lockheed to overcome “enormous security challenges.” The experiment also linked the F-22s to other airborne platforms as well as ground stations, making it a “huge first step” for the F-22s toward becoming net-enabled, said Mark Jefferson, director of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Horizontal Integration. The F-22 pilots, he said, “stayed pretty busy conducting offensive counter air and destruction of enemy air defenses air dominance missions as well as dynamic targeting attacks with F-16s and non-traditional ISR collection events during the exercise, while also simultaneously piping classified sensor data to the CAOC.”

5/7/2008

Verbatim

Instill Value
“When you get down to our airmen, they are not looking for praise, glory, and accolades. But they are looking for value—value in them as human beings. And to do that, we have to put value in the mission. When the nation, at the leadership level and every American’s level, places value in the mission, they will put value in the people. And that is what I find important to the airmen inside of the world that I live in.”
—Gen. John Corley, commander of Air Combat Command, during a four-star forum at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2008.

Verbatim

What Does the Nation Expect?
"The question for us is, ‘Should a force that is extremely relevant and in very high demand in this very difficult environment of the global war on terrorism have airplanes that are 30 or 40 years old?'"
—Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, commenting on the command’s aged fleet of gunships and special-mission airlifters and tankers, during a four-star panel discussion at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Sept. 17, 2008.