Since arriving last fall, the Air Force’s mixed fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk and BD-700 Global Express jets have provided vastly improved communications for US ground forces in Southwest Asia. Thanks to these aircraft equipped with Battlefield Airborne Communication Nodes, “ground troops that are in a convoy down in the middle of a valley can now talk through a Global Hawk like a low-hanging satellite to a command center—they’re always in touch,” said Bill Walker, Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk business manager. BACN also improves ground forces ability to coordinate close air support. In mountainous terrain such as Afghanistan, commanders were previously forced to wait to communicate with aircraft once they arrived overhead. “Now he can talk to the pilot as soon as he takes off, so by the time he gets on station he doesn’t have to loiter,” Walker told reporters at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Conference, in Washington, D.C., Aug. 16. More than simple relay, BACN also “translates” radio voice or data streams, allowing a broad range of air and ground assets to share information seamlessly in real time.
Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.