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 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.