A team of Air Force engineers successfully demonstrated three battlefield-requested capabilities for the E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft during proof-of-concept testing at Tinker AFB, Okla. The upgrades require only minimal modifications to E-3. The first is the Situational Awareness Data Link. Operating on the Link 16 network, the E-3 can only send airspace information directly to other Link 16-capable aircraft—excluding the A-10 and many Air National Guard fighters. But SADL “lets us use the E-3 as an opportunistic aerial gateway . . . to provide direct communication and send the air picture” to those other platforms, said Jonathan Lee, AWACS lead project engineer. The two other low-cost modifications enabled the AWACS to extend Link 16 beyond line of sight using a satellite mobile telephone, and switch between USAF and Army networks in flight without rebooting. (Tinker report by Patty Welsh)
Walking the flight line occupied by Blackhawk attack helicopters and American troops on rotation at the “MK” air base in Romania, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III highlighted the important strategic value of one of NATO’s newest members Oct. 20 ahead of NATO defense ministerial meetings in Brussels Oct. 21-22.…