Utah ANG demonstrates TTNT connectivity with KC-135 for first time

The Utah Air National Guard demonstrated the use of Tactical Targeting Network Technology with a KC-135 Stratotanker for the first time in a flight earlier this month as part of a push to support the Air Force’s role in implementing the broader Joint-All Domain Command and Control framework.

The Aug. 7 flight which occurred during the guard’s Wingman Day and 75th anniversary event, showcased a streaming connection between a KC-135, airborne contracted aircraft and mobile ground party and “successfully demonstrated advanced communication, mission computing and sensor technologies,” according to a service news release issued Sunday.

The demonstrated TTNT connectivity, a tactical datalink that sends information through networks such as JADC2 and the Air Force’s own Advanced Battle Management System, was paired with an upgraded KC-135 that was first upgraded with Link 16 communication capabilities in July 2020, per the release.

The KC-135, called Aircraft 0275, has been used to test the real-time information in the cockpit system, which provided the tanker with the NATO-standard datalink, Link 16, as well as other communications and situational awareness upgrades.

Col. Douglas Foster, 151st Operations Group commander, said the demonstration “showed that with minor modifications to the RTIC system, the bounds are almost limitless to what we can do with a 60-year-old aircraft.”

He added that future technology demonstrated on the KC-135, such as defensive systems and force multiplying capabilities, can be transferred to aircraft such as KC-46 tankers and others “at a much lower program risk level to individual aircraft programs.”

In the spring, Air Mobility Command Commander Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost said she expected the KC-135 would eventually carry a communications pod, a node called Capability Release One that’s currently set to be installed on the KC-46 tanker to bolster data flow between the F-22 and F-35 as part of the ABMS program.

The release didn’t mention that possibility, though it stated: “Giving the KC-135 the situational awareness via advanced tactical datalinks is the first step in creating a survivable tanker force while buying down technological risk to almost all mobility Air Force aircraft.”