Raytheon Technologies‘ [RTX] Multi-Program Testbed (RMT)–a converted 727–collected data on a simulated sea-based threat and provided targeting solutions to other assets in the western Pacific this month during the Pentagon’s ninth Valiant Shield exercise, as the company looks forward to incorporating such features as part of the DoD Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) effort, Raytheon said.
A biennial, U.S. only, field-training exercise, Valiant Shield began in 2006 and focuses on joint training.
The RMT by the Raytheon Intelligence & Space business unit “used a combination of radar and electronic intelligence sensors to characterize the simulated threat,” the company said. “Onboard processors then synthesized the data in seconds to create a comprehensive targeting solution that was passed to tactical platforms.”
The RMT and a KC-135 tanker, four U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighters and a command and control station on the U.S. mainland shared data through machine-to-machine interfaces in a simulation of a confrontation with an advanced technology adversary.
Eric Ditmars, president of secure sensor solutions at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, said in a statement that the RMT demonstration in Valiant Shield “shows we can deliver synthesized, multi-source data to commanders faster than ever, giving them a decisive battlefield advantage.”
The House Armed Services Committee wants the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the Pentagon’s JADC2 plans
, as lawmakers on the committee are concerned by the diversity of military service efforts on JADC2 and by the uncertainty around what JADC2 will include, its delivery, and its cost (Defense Daily, June 7).