Boeing and Rockwell Collins recently completed flight-testing components of USAF’s new weapons data link network. The tests proved the ability to transmit messages to and from a weapon using existing Link-16 networks and that the “data link can be sized to fit into a weapons application,” said Rockwell officials. The Boeing-led effort is under contract to the Air Armament Center at Eglin AFB, Fla. Boeing officials said the recent tests were “a critical component” in on-going research to develop network-enabled technology applicable to numerous weapons, including the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II, Joint Direct Attack Munition, and future weapons.
The Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 took a step toward making an Amazon-like online marketplace for counter-drone tech a reality this week with its first acquisition under the Replicator 2 effort.
