The U.S. Air Force thinks it has found something its new and badly broken aerial tanker actually can do. The KC-46 can’t move gas right now, but maybe soon it can move data.
Northern Edge 21 Wraps Up Achieving Important Testing Goals Of New Capabilities For The Joint Forces
Northern Edge 21 Wraps Up Achieving Important Testing Goals Of New Capabilities For The Joint Forces
A view from the cockpit of the U-2 Dragon Lady as it flies over the USS Roosevelt during Northern Edge 21. (Photo: U.S. Air Force/Beale AFB)
The high-end realistic scenario of Northern Edge 21 allowed testers to assess the behaviour of new systems and upgrades before their fielding to frontline units.
Northern Edge 21, the premier bi-annual joint exercise of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, took place this year through May 3 to May 14 in locations in and around Alaska. The exercise, which involved Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy, recreated high-end realistic warfighter training to practice tactics, techniques and procedures and to improve command, control and communication relationships, improving the joint interoperability and enhancing the combat readiness in a large force employ
The F-22 Raptor Could Truly Be Headed for Retirement. Here s Why.
Is there something faster, stealthier, more maneuverable, and more lethal than the F-22? It seems that could be true.
So little is known about the now airborne 6th-Gen stealth fighter aircraft, yet it is a potential breakthrough platform that is exploding onto the scene years ahead of what was previously anticipated.
Now, it appears the progress and promise of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance 6th Gen program may already be substantially impacting the service’s force structure plans for the future.
The F-22 may now retire 20 or more years earlier than is now planned, should plans articulated in a “yet-to-be-unveiled” Air Force 30-year fighter force design, according to senior service leaders quoted in a fast-breaking report from Air Force Magazine
Update: Lockheed Martin, Pentagon establish bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft, ground units
11 May 2021
by Pat Host
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the Pentagon for the first time established bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft in flight while also sharing operational and sensor data to ground forces during a recent test, according to a company statement on 3 May.
This flight test, named Project Hydra, linked a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, five Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs), and a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the air and provided real-time fifth-generation data to operators on the ground. The flight test leveraged an Open Systems Gateway (OSG) payload aboard the U-2 to connect the F-22 to the five F-35As via the native Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) and the Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL). The target tracks were also transmitted by, and through,
Ever since the F-22 was introduced in 2005, it's been recognized as one of the most capable fighter planes in the world. However, it isn't very good at directly sharing data with anything other than other F-22s. Project Hydra is changing that.