RTX demonstrates AI-enabled communications systems for battlefield networking at Northern Edge 2023
A KC--135 Stratotanker of the 151st Air Refuelling Wing (ARW) during the second round of Northern Edge 2023 when 151st ARW partnered with Collins Aerospace to test AI-enabled communications systems. (Photo USAF)
RTX showcased advanced AI-enabled communications systems during Northern Edge 2023 exercise, connecting coalition partners and enabling rapid data distribution for enhanced joint force capabilities on the battlefield.
Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, demonstrated the capability during the second round of the US Indo-Pacific Command's Northern Edge 2023 exercise series at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.
The demonstration expanded upon the airborne, platform-agnostic data hotspot that the company debuted during the first Northern Edge exercise in Alaska earlier this year.
Leveraging the company's cross domain solution, advanced AI-enabled communications and intelligent gateway technology, Collins connected partners from The Five Eyes alliance and others to the data network, expanding joint force capabilities during the demonstration.
A Collins Aerospace spokesperson said: ‘Our automated communications powered by AI securely provided mission data to a number of platforms including C17s, C-130s and the KC-135 in a realistic combat scenario.’
‘[The second round of] Northern Edge has been a vital proving ground to demonstrate how enabling JADC2 technologies can strengthen the Joint Force and its allies and partners' readiness to fight and win.’
RTX's Raytheon business unit contributed to accelerating decision-making timelines, with an integrated team demonstrating how AI-enabled machine-to-machine communications rapidly delivered threat awareness data from the US Space Force's Unified Data Library to multiple aircraft, demonstrating how they can be used as connectivity nodes on the battlefield.
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