L3 Technologies has delivered the third and final RC-135V/W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft to the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF).
The three Rivet Joint aircraft will form the backbone of the RAF’s Airseeker capability, providing new and collaborative ISR resources in support of global security missions.
The aircraft have been acquired under a foreign military sales contract with the US government valued at approximately $1 billion. L3 converted the aircraft from KC-135R tankers to the RC-135W configuration, with the first two aircraft delivered in 2013 and 2015.
L-3 will perform future baseline upgrades and periodic depot maintenance on the RAF’s aircraft, along with the US Air Force aircraft, which numbers a combined 20 aircraft.
The company has also delivered a ground station and training systems to train both operators and maintainers.
Christopher E. Kubasik, L3’s president and chief operating officer, said: ‘This groundbreaking agreement gives the UK access to future innovative technology and presents a very high level of interoperability with major coalition partners. This partnership has provided our UK allies with an intelligence-gathering platform that supports near-real-time on-scene collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities.’
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
Connect with us on socials
