{"id":32080,"date":"2023-10-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=32080"},"modified":"2023-10-22T06:41:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T06:41:33","slug":"100th-arws-kc-135s-first-tankers-in-usafe-equipped-with-rtic-data-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=32080","title":{"rendered":"100th ARW’s KC-135s first tankers in USAFE equipped with RTIC data link"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RAF MILDENHALL, United Kingdom (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u202fAircraft assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing<\/strong><\/a> are the first tankers in U.S. Air Forces in Europe<\/strong><\/a> to be equipped with a new data link system, allowing them to communicate and share information with other aircraft.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some KC-135 Stratotankers<\/strong><\/a> have recently been fitted with the Real-Time Information in the Cockpit system<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 more commonly known as \u201cRTIC\u201d \u2013 giving them the ability to see tactical data link information in the jet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got extra equipment, including three screens and two radios, which can all be configured and moved to different locations around the aircraft, but their default positions are at the pilots\u2019 and navigator seats,\u201d said Capt. Jarod Suhr, 100th Operations Support Squadron tactics officer and KC-135R pilot. \u201c\u2018Link 16 is a picture of all of the machines and platforms including aircraft, ground systems and command post that are all talking to each other and sharing information. It builds situational awareness for the people operating those systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that Link 16 is the data link via which RTIC operates, and the RTIC system refers to the specific hardware on the KC-135.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of it like RTIC is your laptop, and Link 16 is the internet,\u201d Suhr remarked. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly for sharing tactical information; for example, two fighters can share target information between them over a data link, but thanks to RTIC, we now also have the ability to see some of that tactical information that we don\u2019t normally get or wouldn\u2019t want to ask for over the radio \u2013 it\u2019s complicated to ask for things via voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tactics officer described how RTIC is a situational awareness and tactical awareness tool for aircrew.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us the ability to communicate more effectively in the combat environment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the main way that most of our \u2018Blue Force\u2019 [US partners and allies] systems are already sharing information; we\u2019re basically just speaking the same language as most of the other tactical platforms that are out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits this new system brings include increased awareness, a form of tactical survivability and a secure way of communicating \u2013 it\u2019s very hard to listen in to. It\u2019s information sharing, and allows us to communicate in less permissive environments,\u201d said Suhr. \u201cTwenty years ago, if we needed to share information between two aircraft, we had to do it over voice radio; I had to key the mic and talk to you, then you would talk back. Then someone decided, \u2018Hey, we should be able to do this computer-to-computer\u2019 and I could then see a text message pop up on my screen. That\u2019s way more efficient and it doesn\u2019t take that extra time for someone to hear the message and process it. It just evolved from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suhr explained that RTIC allows the KC-135 to bridge communications with other platforms on the data link.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in the Blue Force must be data-link enabled because it\u2019s the only way that we\u2019ll be able to communicate effectively with each other in the future, due to the vast amount of information that we have to share. The RTIC is bringing the KC-135 into the modern communication landscape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The RTIC system will be invaluable to RAF Mildenhall\u2019s KC-135 crew as it\u2019s the first time they have had real situational awareness of what\u2019s going on in the battlespace.<\/p>\n

\u202f\u201cWhat Link 16 gives our crews, on top of being able to communicate, is the ability to see all the other things that are in the link,\u201d said Lt. Col. Tyler Berge, 100th Operations Group deputy commander. \u201cIt gives us threats, target data, locations of Blue Force partner nations that are playing, so you can see it all. Right now, when I go out and fly, I have very little understanding of who\u2019s around me or what\u2019s out there \u2013 now, with RTIC, I have that; I can see it all on the screen that\u2019s in front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see where threats are, and it gives us the ability to avoid them and push further into the fight, while remaining safe at the appropriate level of risk,\u201d he remarked. \u201cIt also gives us situational awareness on other airplanes; right now, if I have a receiver coming to us to get gas, I might have an idea of where they\u2019re coming from if I talk to tactical [command and control] or an air traffic control facility. With this, I can see where they are coming from, along with their air speeds and altitudes so I can make decisions on my own to put the tanker in the right spot in the air space to make the move happen faster and have a better plan of what\u2019s going on by having all that information at my fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berge explained that the RTIC system has the capability to display\u202finformation relevant to the warfighter, including map overlays, data from ground stations with Link 16\u202faccess and details on a multitude of different weapons systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is huge in providing survivability for us,\u201d Berge said. \u201cIt enables us to utilize the most amount of airspace, while keeping our crew safe. It allows us to instantly see on the map how close we can get; before, I would take a chart and have to physically draw that onto a piece of paper or laminated chart and fly with it to work out where we were. Now, we have a GPS signal that gives us our exact location and the location of any threat, so I know instantly both where I need to turn before I go into the weapons engagement zone, and also the exact location of the receivers I\u2019m refueling, where to meet them, and if I need to change direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes us even more effective; it keeps us safer and allows us to more of the airspace than we\u2019ve ever been able to use before,\u201d Berge said. \u201cCommunication is key \u2013 we\u2019re used to always having tactical C2, so somebody from the air operations center or an air battle manager would tell us who needs gas and where we then need to go, now anybody who is on Link [16] can get on there and say, \u2018I need a tanker\u2019 and we can get on there and say, \u2018I have extra gas \u2013 come to me!\u2019 We have the ability to communicate and figure out who needs gas and who doesn\u2019t. Instead of waiting on a receiver to come get their gas, only to find out they went home an hour ago, we now have the option of offering that gas to someone else. These types of capabilities will be huge, in a contested environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RAF MILDENHALL, United Kingdom (AFNS) — \u00a0 \u202fAircraft assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing are the first tankers in U.S. Air Forces in Europe to be equipped with a new data link system, allowing them to communicate and share information with other aircraft. Some KC-135 Stratotankers have recently been fitted with the Real-Time Information […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32080"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32083,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32080\/revisions\/32083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}