Air Armament Center officials at Eglin AFB, Fla., have completed a series of test flight demonstrations for the Weapon Data Link Network—leading ultimately to the ability to communicate with a weapon after it has left an aircraft. The WDLN defines a standard way for aircrews, battlefield airmen, and a Combined Air Operations Center to “talk” with network-enabled weapons. It enables users to provide target updates, change the target, or abort the strike, says Kevin Sura, who led the demonstration. The demo team produced more than 140 runs across 12 official demonstration missions, during which the test weapons confirmed current information, reported their status, and provided bomb hit indication information—just as planned.
Details Murky as ARRW Falls Short in Second Test
March 24, 2023
The second all-up flight of the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon on March 13 fell short of a fully successful test, but the Air Force isn’t saying what went wrong with the Lockheed Martin-built hypersonic missile. The defense giant's Missiles and Fire Control division recently said the ARRW is "ready…