FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. — Gen. Mike Minihan, Air Mobility commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Jamie Newman, AMC command chief, hosted a Congressional delegation aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker to demonstrate the Real-Time Information in Cockpit system, during a flight out of Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, July 22, 2024.

The demonstration was completed ahead of Minihan’s testimony to House Armed Services Committee subcommittee for Seapower and Projection Forces where he provided an informational update on mobility aircraft connectivity capabilities, crucial in today’s security environment.

“The first and largest contribution [connectivity] has is to survivability,” Minihan said. “When I can understand exactly where the blue [friendly] forces are and exactly where the red [enemy] forces are, and I don’t have to transmit to understand that lay-down, then mobility will have the ability to, one, operate in a higher-contested environment, and, two, support the joint team so that they can operate in a higher-contested environment.”

The RTIC data link system is used to communicate and share mission-critical information such as displaying enemy threats, target data, and friendly force locations presented on an avionics display in the aircraft cockpit. RTIC data link systems in the KC-135 are critical to meeting Minihan’s goal of connecting 25 percent of the Mobility Air Forces fleet by 2025.

“RTIC provides interoperability through secure means between aircraft as well as between ground stations,” Capt. Robert Schaefer, a pilot assigned to the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, explained. “It enables Fairchild to act as more of a tactical data link node and it gives us, as aircrew, a lot more situational awareness.”

Fairchild AFB is America’s Super Tanker Wing which is home to 68 KC-135’s. By demonstrating RTIC as a key asset that will adapt the services to prevail in an era of Great Power Competition, Fairchild AFB’s Airmen can continue to drive the mission forward.

“We create efficiency as well as effectiveness when we have unity of effort,” Minihan said. “Improving the connectivity between mobility air and ground crews is the best investment the Air Force can make for preparing the enterprise to operate across the vast reaches of the Pacific.”