RTX’s Collins Aerospace enables disparate network communication to expand situational awareness at Keen Sword

Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, successfully demonstrated a new cross-domain networking capability to improve situational awareness for forces in the initial stages of a conflict. Collins enabled the relay of unclassified data from non-traditional sensors into a fire network supporting Marine Corps Command and Control objectives during exercise Keen Sword hosted by III Marine Expeditionary Force.

Non-traditional sensors, including commercial nodes, run on different networks than government systems, requiring data movement across machines to provide users with an integrated view of key data. Collins automated data routing across different security classification levels and used satellite networks to provide a secure transport layer between the non-traditional sensors in a configuration that took less than an hour to set up and run.

“We must provide decision-makers with the best information from any data source and rapidly reconfigure systems to support changing mission needs,” said Elaine Bitonti, vice president and general manager for the Connected Battlespace & Emerging Capabilities portfolio at Collins. “During the exercise, Collins enabled expeditionary machine-to-machine data transfers to close decision chains quickly.”