S.Amdt. 6537

SA 6537, submitted by Mr. Lee and Mr. Curtis, aims to add a requirement for the Secretary of the Army to provide a report to congressional defense committees regarding the fielding of Link 16 tactical data link networking capabilities on specific Army aircraft.

The amendment requires this report to be submitted by December 1, 2026, and it must include:

• A description of current and planned fielding for AH-64E, UH-60M, and CH-47F aircraft.
• An assessment of how these capabilities help the Army's next generation command and control efforts.
• An assessment of how they support interoperability between Army rotary-wing aircraft, joint force platforms, and allied or partner platforms.
• An assessment of operational benefits for UH-60M and CH-47F aircraft, specifically regarding situational awareness, safety of flight, contested logistics, and operations with manned and unmanned platforms in shared airspace.
• A description of any policy, budgetary, programmatic, operational, or technical barriers to fielding these capabilities on UH-60M and CH-47F aircraft.
• A timeline and plan to address those barriers and field the capabilities.

The report must be in unclassified form, though it is allowed to have a classified annex.