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Show HILLTOP TIMES 4 TIMES January 14, 2010 ; 'The antenna we're adding to the radio allows the pilot to communicate with satellites. They can now get down low or behind mountains without losing contact with the rest of the joint force." ,'. V..,..- V '' '•-] "'*." *"'' •• /f 6"" ••'• 'Ml • •., .,•. > 1 *' _."'''.'. MATT REGAN, Hill's F-16 Beyond Line-of-Sight program manager •i - -.. •• • * i •^•r^' » ' '•'• • •* "'-'" ' • *. RADIO tainous or other inhospitable environments — something especially needed by those From page 1 serving in Afghanistan. The fix for this would be to add an which includes Afghanistan antenna and radome to the exand Iraq. isting radio. That capability, accordTo meet the urgent operaing to Matt Regan, Hill's F-16 tional need Aviatech Corp. BLOS program manager, alwas contracted by Hill AFB as lows an F-16 pilot to: it possessed an off-the-shelf satellite communication anten• Talk with ground troops na and radome assembly that — be they U.S. military or could be integrated quickly on other coalition forces — even the F-16 with this capability. in remote mountainous locaThey partnered with Cooper tions • Talk to command and con- Antennas to provide the antenna and Atlas Composites to trol centers located "over the develop the radome assembly. horizon" or great distances From contract award to initial away kit delivery, Aviatech fulfilled • Talk with other aircraft this requirement in only five that might be commanding the months, normally a 12-month skies to 18-month process. "The need for more 'jointness' in the theater of op"The antenna we're adding erations drove this request," to the radio allows the pilot to Regan said. "We needed to communicate with satellites," develop a radio network for Regan said. "They can now get the F-16 that would allow all of down low or behind mountains these pieces and elements of without losing contact with the battlefield to talk together the rest of the joint force." and communicate effectively." But adding an antenna to the F-16 is not as simple as In 2007, while Regan was buying it at a store, hooking still active duty as an aircraft it up to the radio and then maintenance sergeant, the Air mounting it on top of the F-16 Force began deploying Secure because of the multitude of Line of Sight radio capabilconfigurations. ity on the F-16. This capability includes an "off-the-shelf "Right off the bat, we were radio made by Rockwell faced with funding and schedCollins already used on Air ule dilemmas, software inteForce F-15 and A-10 aircraft gration problems and accelerand Navy F/A-18 aircraft. This ating contracts with vendors radio provides two-way voice to get the parts to make kits," or data communications in Regan said. several frequency ranges in Congress came through either normal, secure or jamwith the funding, and a Rapid resistant modes. Response Team was formed in February, which included While this radio allowed people from Hill, Wright Patthe F-16 pilot to talk with joint terson AFB, Headquarters Air forces on the ground, the pilot Combat Command, the Air .still could not talk via satellite National Guard, the Air Force with troops and other aircraft and Lockheed Martin Reserve beyond line of sight, in moun- to work out the software and other engineering and integration issues with the radio and antenna on the various configurations of the F-16. The team received significant support from the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Test Center, or AATC, which effectively developed the technical solution and conducted qualification testing for the upgraded radio and antenna on the F-16C, Block 30 and 32. "There is not one capability more important to an Airman than better communications with the ground forces," said Col. Lenny Dick, AATC project officer for the F-16 BLOS capability. "The capabilities this brings to our Guard and Reserve F-16s that will deploy cannot be overemphasized." Shaw's maintenance community also had to drop just about everything else to make the modification happen for the one squadron of jets that deployed. "All of the parts were delivering late to need," Regan said, "which means we had little or no time to deliver kits to the units, get them installed, and provide adequate training to pilots and maintainers before deployment. We had to put our depot modification team, from the 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Hill Air Force Base, on the ground at Shaw with incomplete kits for the planes and a very challenging schedule, and ask them to do the impossible. They hit it out of the park!" "You would normally never want to put a unit through that pain," said Lt. Col. Timothy Dickinson, 501st Aircraft Sustainment Squadron commander, "but because this was so urgent, it became more COFFEE HOT CHOCOLATE AND COOKIES SENIOR AIRMAN DAVID MINOR/U.S. Air Force Hugh Chamberlain, Depot Field Team member from Hill Air Force Base, is shown installing parts on an F-16, in this file photo taken at Shaw Air Force Base in September of 2009. Shaw AFB and the Depot Field Team worked together to accomplish new modifications of the F-16. The Beyond Line-of-Sight Satellite communication radios installed allow the F-16 the use of satellite communications to talk with units outside line of sight. than people just doing their jobs, this became monumental across a very wide and diverse team." Shaw's F-16s, which successfully deployed in October, were the first deploying aircraft with the new capability. The work to add the radio and antenna to the F-16 will continue into 2012. Locally, the 388th Fighter Wing has installed BLOS capabilities in some aircraft for deployments. While getting the first aircraft ready for deployment in less than 45 days was "a huge team success," Regan said, "we have many more challenges in front of us. "It's just truly awesome — the capability is out there and it's working as advertised.1 It'sgiving the warfighter what they need." '?? 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