KC-135 will soon be able to defend itself using the Gladiator Pod

The U.S. Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) is planning to modify two KC-135s to equip them with a new communications, sensors and defensive pod.

On December 15, 2020, the National Guard Bureau named the Utah Air National Guard as the interim KC-135 Test Detachment for AATC. Under the agreement the 151st ARW will provide aircraft, aircrew, and maintenance support.

While tentatively called the Gladiator Pod, it is expected to enter flight testing on a few KC-135s in 2023.

AATC intends to pack communication, defensive, and sensor technologies inside the shell of a Multipoint Refueling System (MPRS) Pod. The MPRS consists of a single refueling pod mounted on each wing of a KC-135 to support probe and drogue refueling.

Senior Airman Reid Nixon (left), 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit hydraulics journeyman from Odenton, Md., and Senior Airman Michael Velazquez (right), 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit hydraulics journeyman from Rochester, N.Y., join a small team of 340th hydraulics specialists as they install a multi-purpose refueling system on a KC-135 Stratotanker at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Dec. 30, 2015. The system allows the aircraft to refuel any plane supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman/Released)

The communication systems that will be packed inside the Gladiator Pod will allow the KC-135 to act as a data node and host on the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).

Defensive systems will protect the tanker with limited fighter support.

It was also disclosed that the KC-135 was able to receive off-board data from the Kratos Unmanned Tactical Aerial Platform-22 (UTAP-22) during a recent test China Lake.

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