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 Test experts from the F-117 Combined Test Force at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, demonstrated in April how Nighthawk pilots can receive mission and target data on targets or pop-up threats via satellite communication and transmit that data from the cockpit in real-time to command and control forces on the ground.
F-117 pilot Lt. Col. Phil DeLillo from Holloman AFB, New Mexico, who flew the final test flight in April over the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake test range in California, received new target information soon after takeoff requiring him to replan the mission from the cockpit and attack a new target in a different location. DeLillo successfully identified and simulated an attack on the new target and transmitted real-time battle damage assessment data back within minutes to command and control forces working inside the CTF.
“We have to reduce the timeline of detection, targeting, and weapon impact,” said DeLillo, who serves at Holloman as the commander of Detachment 1 of Air Combat Command’s 53rd Test and Evaluation Group located at Nellis, AFB, Nevada. “With modern enemy forces getting better at moving and hiding critical targets, the Air Force has to improve its time-critical targeting capabilities.”
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