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March 29, 2024 8:55 am
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New E-11A BACN Is Now Operational With U.S. Air Force

BACN


BACN

A brand new U.S. Air Pressure E-11A BACN plane sits parked at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dec. 16, 2022. This E-11A is the most recent addition to 430th Expeditionary Digital Communications Squadron’s fleet. (U.S. Air Pressure photograph by Workers Sgt. Shannon Bowman)

This new plane will relieve the strain on the fleet after a E-11 crashed in 2020 and can enable to maintain a excessive mission succesful fee.

The U.S. Air Pressure 430th Expeditionary Digital Communications Squadron “Black Wolves” obtained a brand new E-11A plane with the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node payload, which arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, on December 16, 2022. The 430th EECS is the one unit that operates the E-11A and supplies constant and efficient communication channels for air, floor and maritime forces within the U.S. Central Command space of duty.

The plane is the primary delivered below a contract signed in 2021 to acquire as much as six new E-11As over the next 5 years. This intention was introduced a yr after the fatal crash in Afghanistan of one of many E-11As already in service, which diminished the fleet from 4 plane to a few. The primary three new plane had been confirmed in 2021, whereas in 2022 two different plane had been ordered, bringing the full to 5. The final plane is predicted to be ordered this yr.

“This new E-11A will relieve the strain on the remainder of our fleet and allow us to maintain a excessive mission succesful fee,” stated Lt. Col. Todd Arthur, the 430th EECS commander. “Having an extra plane will give our upkeep group one other choice to reliably put fight airpower into the skies.”

The E-11A is predicated on the Bombardier BD-700-1A10 enterprise jet, often known as International 6000, which requires no exterior modifications because the BACN payload is carried internally. The plane, first leased originally of this system and later purchased by the Air Pressure in 2011, transitioned in 2019 from contingency funding to a long-term program of document. All of the E-11As had been assigned to the 430th EECS at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, from the place they supplied close to fixed protection in theater together with the EQ-4B.

A brand new U.S. Air Pressure E-11A BACN plane taxis by means of a “chook bathtub” at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dec. 16, 2022. This E-11A is the most recent addition to 430th Expeditionary Digital Communications Squadron’s fleet. Generally often called Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN, this plane extends the vary of communications channels and allows higher communication amongst items. (U.S. Air Pressure photograph by Workers Sgt. Shannon Bowman)

Following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the unit moved to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, from the place they’re persevering with their mission. Because the BACN mission’s inception in 2008, the 430th has delivered greater than 200,000 flight hours and confirmed to be a vital part to fashionable conflict preventing.

With the excessive mission success charges the E-11A has demonstrated within the Center East, and the strategic functionality benefits the plane brings to the joint pressure, the Air Force has announced plans to deliver a brand new E-11A BACN squadron to Robins Air Pressure Base, Georgia. “The Air Pressure and U.S. Congress have acknowledged what the E-11A platform brings to the struggle,” Lt.Col. Arthur stated. “Because of this, we’re standing up a brand new squadron of E-11s at Robins AFB in February of 2023.”

This primary new E-11A, serial quantity 21-9045, was transferred to the Air Force by Bombardier in September, earlier than being moved few days later to Hansom Air Pressure Base, Massachusetts, headquarter of the BACN Program Workplace. The plane is newly constructed, because it solely left the manufacturing unit in early 2021, versus the present E-11s that are about 15 years previous.

The BACN payload, outlined as a “Wi-Fi within the sky”, was developed additionally as step one in the direction of multi-domain operations, performing as a “gateway” system that enables plane with incompatible radio programs and datalinks to switch data and talk. BACN is reportedly being modified to permit fourth- to fifth-generation knowledge sharing between fighter jets, with upgraded navigation and GPS programs and Hyperlink-16.

Stefano D’Urso is a contract journalist and contributor to TheAviationist primarily based in Lecce, Italy. A graduate in Industral Engineering he is additionally learning to attain a Grasp Diploma in Aerospace Engineering. Digital Warfare, Loitering Munitions and OSINT methods utilized to the world of navy operations and present conflicts are amongst his areas of experience.





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