On Monday, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) announced that it and the Air Mobility Command (AMC), which provides aerial refueling and airlift services for U.S. forces worldwide, began testing a UAS traffic management (UTM) system at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

The system, called CLUE, or Collaborative Low-Altitude Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Effort, is designed to integrate UAS flights next to crewed aircraft above and around Air Force installations. According to the AFRL, MacDill is the first base to use a UTM system in airspace overseen by Department of Defense air traffic controllers.

“This is a significant milestone for AMC, AFRL, and the CLUE program, as the MacDill Air Traffic Control Tower and Base Defense Operations Center are first in the Air Force to operationally assess UTM capabilities,” said Phil Zaleski, manager of the AFRL CLUE program.

CLUE was born out of the AFRL’s Information Directorate as a project meant to provide “air domain awareness, situational awareness, and UTM operational capabilities for UAS operators, air traffic control [ATC] personnel, Security Forces and other stakeholders.”

The system arrived at MacDill in 2022, where initial testing focused on airspace deconfliction, communication, and security. The goal was to enable drone flights beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the operator, which are heavily scrutinized and restricted by the FAA.

Since then, the UTM platform has been developed to give air traffic controllers a three-dimensional view of UAS activity and make it possible to grant flight permissions automatically.

“Equipping airspace managers and UAS operators with a 3D operational viewing capability and additional features designed to reduce lengthy manual and advanced planning procedures will be critical to achieving real-time flight planning and mission execution,” said James Layton, chief of plans and programs at MacDill.

The system is also sensor-agnostic, meaning it integrates with an array of different sensors designed to detect, track, and identify drones, including a counter UAS system being tested at MacDill.

The Air Force in May began formally testing CLUE’s capabilities on the base, opening it to the site’s ATC tower, Defense Operations Center, and airfield management team. Personnel so far have used the system to plan the intent of UAS flights or let operators know where they are approved to fly a drone, for example.

Operators ask CLUE for the all clear to fly, and their request is either approved or denied by the control tower. Once permission is granted, they can fly within a bounded area. CLUE feeds the operators information about the airspace and other nearby aircraft, helping them stay within the approved zone while avoiding other drones.

The UTM system has also been installed at Eglin AFB’s Duke Field (KEGI) in Florida, where the AFRL conducted a demonstration of its capabilities in 2023. There, CLUE will begin by integrating flights of small UAS (weighing less than 70 pounds) before moving to larger designs, including electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis such as Joby Aviation’s five-seat S4.

Joby, partnering with AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, earlier this year committed to deliver two air taxis to MacDill and has also shipped a prototype aircraft to Edwards AFB in California.

MacDill in May also hosted flights of a KC-135 Stratotanker equipped with an autonomous flight system from developer Merlin Labs, which is designed to one day enable fully remote flights. That technology, as well as systems from fellow AFWERX collaborators Xwing and Reliable Robotics, could one day be integrated into the CLUE UTM.

AFWERX and the AFRL are not the only government entities studying UTM systems. The Air Force is working with NASA to build a digital operations center for drones and electric air taxis nationwide and is collaborating with the FAA to integrate novel and uncrewed aircraft with air traffic control and other systems within the national airspace.

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The cracks were discovered by a technician at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (KWRB), Georgia, who noticed a persistent leak on a C-130H propeller during a post-depot operation engine run check. 

“When the propeller assembly was removed and turned into the WR-ALC Prop Shop, a technician noted a crack in the propeller barrel assembly,” a spokesperson for Air Mobility Command (AMC) told FLYING in a statement. 

Additional inspections revealed that two other propeller assemblies had the same issue, prompting the command to issue an order for a field level visual inspection on all C-130H aircraft with installed 54H60 props.

• READ MORE: Tenacity Helped This C-130 Pilot Earn Her Wings

“After additional review, including metallurgical and detailed stress analysis, the command released an immediate-action [Time Compliance Technical Order] TCTO directing replacement of a variety of specific suspect propellers,” the AMC spokesperson said.

The order targets aircraft with older propeller assemblies and not the entire fleet. “C-130H aircraft that have the NP2000 upgraded propeller assembly are not affected by the TCTO, nor are any C-130J models,” the Air Force said.

As many as 116 C-130Hs could be grounded during inspections, AMC spokesperson Maj. Beau Downey said, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.

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The development follows a recent combat employment concept exercise and wraps up a 15-month Interim Capability Release that ensures the tanker could refuel all aircraft, Air Force officials said. 

“We have rapidly operationalized this aircraft to support the joint force,” Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of AMC, said in a statement Monday. “We are ready to use this aircraft globally in any fight, without hesitation.”

The KC-46A represents the Air Force’s first phase of recapitalizing its aging tanker fleet and is capable of refueling most fixed-wing, receiver-capable aircraft, as well as airlifting up to 65,000 pounds of cargo.

• READ MORE: USAF Crew Sets Record With 24-Hour KC-46A Pegasus Flight

During the exercise, which occurred in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, the KC-46A offloaded 1.46 million pounds of fuel to 66 aircraft over the course of 206 flight hours. While the Air Force did not specify where the exercise occurred, the CENTCOM area of operations is a 4 million square-mile area stretching from Egypt to Kazakhstan.

As part of the exercise, a KC-46A also refueled two McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle fighters using the Military Data Network, which allows the tanker to act as an interface between the Air Operations Center on the ground and airborne aircraft. 

“The KC-46 now officially joins the rest of the Air Force’s refueling fleet in meeting combatant command requirements around the world,” said Brig. Gen. Ryan Samuelson, AMC’s KC-46A Cross Functional Team lead. “But the KC-46A is a game changer in its ability to transmit and exchange data between networks, arming warfighters with real-time battlefield awareness—extending the joint force’s reach, flexibility, and endurance capabilities.”

While the Air Force has lifted all restrictions for the KC-46, the aircraft’s Remote Vision System remains challenged owing to occasional shadows and direct sun washouts that appear on tanker video displays, which can lead to the boom scraping aircraft during refueling operations, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. Boeing is currently developing a display upgrade that is on track to be installed in 2024, the magazine said.

• READ MORE: Foreign Military Interest Up for KC-46A Tanker: Report

Interest in the aircraft’s air-to-air refueling capabilities is growing, Boeing said earlier this summer, indicating it expected to announce a new international buyer for the KC-46A tanker by the end of the year. 

The tanker is based upon the Boeing 767 airframe and can accommodate 18 military standardized pallets in cargo configuration, a capability that makes it desirable to many international militaries. 

Six international militaries have approached Boeing about purchasing the aircraft since 2020, a company official said in June.

The Air Force began flying the aircraft in early 2019, and under its current contract, is set to receive 179 copies of the air-to-air refueler.

• READ MORE: California Air Base Named Preferred Site For KC-46A Tanker

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