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Innovative technology such as tactical data links are changing
the way battles are won and strategies are implemented on the
battlefield.
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467,
Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2, and U.S. Marine Corps
Forces, Special Operations Command, participated in an exercise
testing data movement between different tactical networks.
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A UH-1Y Huey flies alongside an AH-1W Super Cobra during a training exercise testing a digital interoperability system at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., July 24, 2015. Digital interoperability is the technology capable of increasing prowess on the battlefield. The exercise included Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467, Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2, and U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, testing a LINK 16 conversion system for one of the first times within an explicitly rotary-wing exercise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jason Jimenez)
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“This exercise focused on integrating field radios and
commercial ‘off the shelf' tablet systems to rapidly and
securely pass converted LINK 16 messages to HMLA aircraft in
a tactical training exercise,” said Capt. Justin Pavlischek,
the intelligence officer with VMU-2.
Access to LINK
16 data allows interoperability between pilots of certain
aircraft, joint terminal attack controller, maneuver units
and VMU aircrew, provided the assets and the conversion
protocols are present and can be utilized.
“A lot of our systems have
requirements and are difficult to modify,” said Capt.
Michael Marron Jr., an AH-1W Super Cobra pilot with
HMLA-467. “We overcome that by leveraging a specific
combination of current technology to provide access to two
tactical networks and move some specific messages between
those networks – in this case LINK 16 and ANW2.”
According to Marron, digital interoperability is the way the
Marine Corps will be able to communicate between multiple
type/model/series aircraft in an objective area that is
comprised of enemy threats, friendly air positions and
ground forces.
“For the rotary-wing aircraft, up
until recently, the Marine Corps has been using paper maps
and objective area diagrams to plot friendly and enemy
locations using a pen or pencil,” said Marron. “Now with
tablets, we have modern technology in an aircraft that is 30
years old. It allows us to tap into a tactical picture that
was previously out of our reach.”
Assets that are
LINK 16 capable can send information to unmanned aerial
systems ground control stations, which acts as a network
gateway to then push out specific information in a readable
format to non-LINK 16 enabled aircraft. Those aircraft can
then see that information, provided they are carrying a
specific radio and tablet running an application called
“KILSWITCH” (Kinetic Integration Lightweight Software
Individual Tactical Combat Handheld).
Systems that
monitor the aircraft's status can also be tapped into and
that information can be transmitted off the aircraft. “In
the future, it will tell how much fuel an aircraft has and
how many weapons it possesses,” said Capt. Christopher Cain,
a pilot training officer with HMLA-467.
Additionally,
there are efforts underway to integrate technologies that
will have the ability to populate threats. “If one aircraft
can see a threat, it can notify everyone connected, show how
far away and how to stay away to mitigate it ... It will
speed-up the kill chain.”
Among the military aviation
community, the jargon “speed-up the kill chain” refers to
utilizing the most efficient method toward negotiating a
nine-line expeditiously. A nine-line is the method of
establishing the scene of an objective area and
incorporating necessary information to achieve mission
success.
“Passing of that nine-line over the radio is
going to take a minute or two, at the very least,” said
Cain. “The building of a nine-line using KILSWITCH can take
as little as 30 seconds. There is less of an opportunity to
copy down a wrong grid or mix up information.”
With
this upgraded technology, someone building an attack brief
in a KILSWITCH tablet can send it electronically, and
quickly ask for read-backs – ultimately the close-air
support players will be more effective and able to get more
attacks in during their time on station, said Cain.
“The longer it takes to figure out where the enemy is and
where the friendlies are, the longer it will take to put
down effective fire on the enemy” added Marron. “If I have
situational awareness before I show up into an objective
area, then I don't have to spend precious time figuring out
what's going on.”
By design, unmanned aircraft are
capable of providing persistent coverage and can be fitted
with "plug-and-play" radios and payloads, which will extend
the ranges and capability of digital networks into disparate
battlefields and areas of operation, explained Pavlischek.
When fitted with these payloads and radios, the
MQ-21A Blackjack will be ideally suited to provide airborne
data network relay and gateways for aviation and ground
units.
In addition to the VMU's traditional role of
providing aerial reconnaissance, the VMU's mission has
recently been expanded to include "supporting arms
coordination and control." The foresight developed into this
exercise demonstrated a potential role the VMUs could fill
in the future – enhancing the lethal and non-lethal
capabilities of the Aviation Combat Element and Marine
Air-Ground Task Force through digital interoperability.
According to the 2015 Marine Aviation Plan, digital
interoperability will be tested and validated with an
"integration through innovation and experimentation"
approach. This exercise between VMU-2 and HMLA-467 is one
example of this innovation and experimentation within the
fleet, explained Pavlischek. It demonstrates how technology
present in the Marine unmanned aviation ground control
station can provide a critical link, or node, in extending
and enhancing the situational awareness, survivability,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
capability for ground units and aircraft distributed across
the battlefield.
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jason Jimenez
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
The U.S. Marines
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