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I am proud to have been a small part of this program from 2008 thru 2011 and again in 2015. BACN aircraft are there to link Army and USMC units who would otherwise be out of line-of-sight comms. It provides a "bridge" between several forms of communication between combat aircraft, and between JTAC/TACPs and the strike aircraft in support of ground troops. BACN in Afghanistan led to 25% reduction in average time for aircraft response to Troops-In-Contact, and a 45% increase in kinetic strikes on enemy. Fielded BACN Global Hawk--“Nethawk” provides second network orbit for SWA—provides data relay, forwarding and translation for air and ground forces 24/7/365.
USAF to buy more BACN
Posted from janes.com
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 5
Posted 3 y ago
Sounds like relay platforms between the controller and the birds. Leave it to USAF to work it out. I saw the line of death on the ground, when JSTARS had them dialed in after Desert Storm. Impressive, and nowhere to hide. A childhood neighbor retired at Warner Robbins as MG years ago. His time in was with JSTARS.
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Col Joseph Lenertz
3 y
Yes, you are correct. But it also links tactical data links between old and new airplanes, allowing them to swap targeting data. Very cool, thanks for the great response.
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CWO3 (Join to see)
3 y
It's all above me. I worked on III MEF rollout of SINCGARS, so I am that many years behind. Not just a link then, but encode/decode for multiple platforms and data configurations. Sounds like a multi band router. Good knowing the AF Labs and Commands are on the cutting edge. Thanks for the info.
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Posted 3 y ago
This is really neat and I had no idea they existed. A lot of the stuff I've read doing research is really focused on short distance comms or the use of satellites, but this platform makes perfect sense. Is this a frequent option for TACP/JTAC to tap in to, or are they part of mission planning? Thanks for the article.
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Col Joseph Lenertz
3 y
Yes, it is used often in Afghanistan...every day. Army and USMC units put in BACN requests to the CAOC where we have a BACN liaison officer to prioritize and approve the requests. The Air Tasking Order includes the BACN flights every day so the crews know where to be.
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SPC Brent Melton
3 y
Col Joseph Lenertz - Very awesome. I qualified as a JFO and during that training they told us we could request EW support from aircraft for missions which generated this question. Thank you again.
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