The Utah Air National Guard demonstrated new capabilities that expand the KC-135 aerial refueling tanker’s ability to also act as an airborne communications and data-sharing node during major exercises in the Pacific earlier this year. Additional datalinks and other systems were packed into heavily modified underwing Multipoint Refueling System (MPRS) pods normally used to send gas to receivers via the probe-and-drogue method. More network connectivity for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-135s, as well as its KC-46s, opens the door to a host of new operational possibilities for those aircraft, including when it comes to controlling drones in flight.
the 151st Wing, in cooperation with the AATC, has been at the very forefront of Air Force efforts to advance new communications and data-sharing capabilities for the KC-135, specifically, for some time now. The development of podded systems similar, if not identical to the ones demonstrated at REFORPAC 25, traces back at least to 2021, and builds on years of work before then on roll-on/roll-off packages designed to be installed in the aircraft’s cargo deck.
The Roll-On Beyond Line-of-Sight Enhancement (ROBE) package seen here is among the add-on communications and data-sharing capabilities that has been available for use on the KC-135, as well as other aircraft, for years now already. USAF
A self-contained podded system offers a different degree of flexibility when it comes to loading and unloading from aircraft, as required. A KC-135 can only carry one pod under each wing at a time, so being able to readily swap out ones filled with communications gear for standard MRPS types between missions would be very valuable. Leveraging the established MRPS pod design, which the KC-135 is already cleared to carry, also helps significantly reduce costs and overall time required for integration and flight testing.
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Tanker crews being able to control various tiers of drones, including ones launched in mid-air from their aircraft, is one particularly notable element of this future vision. Those drones could help provide further situational awareness, or even a more active defense against incoming threats, as well as perform other missions, as you can read more about here. A Utah Air National Guard KC-135 demonstrated just this kind of capability in a previous test also involving a Kratos Unmanned Tactical Aerial Platform-22, or UTAP-22, also known as the Mako, a low-cost loyal wingman-type drone, back in 2021.
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The pod’s line-of-sight links could even be used to control future stealthy collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) type drones and/or send and receive data from stealthy crewed aircraft, like F-22 and F-35 fighters and the future B-21 Raider bombers. Beyond the immediate value of that information exchange for tankers, including when it comes to survivability, this could open up additional possibilities for data fusion and rebroadcasting. If the pods can communicate with the low probability of interception/low probability of detection (LPI/LPD) datalinks that stealthy aircraft use, such as the Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) and Intra-Fighter Data Link (IFDL), and more general-purpose ones, they could turn tankers into invaluable ‘translator’ nodes between various waveforms. Basically, they could allow aircraft with disparate datalink architectures to share data with each other, with the KC-135 acting as a forward fusion and rebroadcasting ‘gateway.’ The tankers could also use their beyond-line-of-sight links to share critical information globally in near real time. The fact that they would already be operating forward in their tanker role means they can provide these added services alongside their primary refueling mission.
