Battlefield Airborne Communications Node/ BACN

Definition

BACN is a high-altitude communications gateway, hosted on E-11A aircraft and EQ-4B drones, that translates and relays between Link 16, IFDL, MADL, SADL, voice, and IP networks. It is the canonical example of a stealth-aware crosslink gateway and a recurring reference design for CCA waveform translation pods.

Reference attributes

Hosts

E-11A, EQ-4B

Translates

Link 16, IFDL, MADL, SADL, voice, IP

Operator

U.S. Air Force

Role

Airborne gateway / relay

Related terms

• Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL)
  F-22 native low-observable datalink for flight-level sensor and track sharing.
• Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL)
  Low-probability-of-intercept stealth datalink used by F-35 and select fifth-gen aircraft.
• Link 16
  Jam-resistant tactical data exchange network for joint and coalition platforms.