U.S. Air Force E-11A aircraft equipped with the BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) payload took part in a C-UAS and IAMD exercise in the Arabian Peninsula.
Airmen from the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing teamed up with their Saudi counterparts for Exercise Yellow Sands, a regional training event aimed at boosting teamwork in Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) and Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), last month. The exercise series focuses on spotting, tracking, and taking down aerial threats, using the E-11A aircraft equipped with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as a “flying gateway”, a communications hub to link up the many different systems used by coalition forces.
Yellow Sands is part of the U.S. Air Forces Central’s Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense program, which is all about protecting the Arabian Peninsula from attacks like those launched on Israel by Iran last year. It’s designed to test how well member nations of the Joint Regional Air Chief group can work with coalition partners, with a focus on building ties with regional allies who play a key role in U.S. CENTCOM (Central Command) AOO (Area of Operations).
During Yellow Sands, the E-11A’s BACN (or “Bacon”, as the system is commonly pronounced) provided secure, long-range communication links for both air and ground forces. This improved connectivity helped coalition partners coordinate better and effectively as they faced air and missile threats, strengthening the collective security of allied nations in the region.
“The E-11A is basically a Bombardier aircraft fitted with BACN,” explained U.S. Air Force Maj. Giovanni Allevato, a pilot from the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron in a public release. “This system lets us bridge voice and data systems, enabling real-time, seamless communication for warfighters.”
By connecting different communication networks, the E-11A makes it easier to share information in real time, smoothing out the flow of voice and data between allies. Its role in Yellow Sands was specifically about bridging these gaps and ensuring U.S. forces could work smoothly with their regional partners.
“The E-11A fills a critical gap and adds an important capability when it comes to sharing information,” Allevato said. “The faster we can move information and break down barriers to sharing it, the stronger we become as a team.”
At a strategic level, the E-11A helps improve coordination by speeding up information flow between warfighters. Exercises like Yellow Sands also offer the chance to test and improve these systems, making sure everything works as it should.
“The BACN system has been used on other platforms,” Allevato noted. “But right now, the E-11A is the main vehicle carrying it in this region. Without BACN, there wouldn’t be an E-11 in this theater, and vice versa.”
E-11A
The E-11A is a Bombardier BD-700-1A10 business jet, also known as Global 6000, which carries the BACN payload internally. The aircraft, first leased at the beginning of the program and later bought by the Air Force in 2011, transitioned in 2019 from contingency funding to a long-term program of record. In the beginning, all the E-11A aircraft were assigned to the 430th EECS at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, from where they provided near constant coverage in theater together with the EQ-4B Global Hawk UAS (Unmanned Aerial System).
Following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the unit moved to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, from where they are continuing their mission, and from where it recently supported the humanitarian aid drops in Gaza.
The BACN payload, defined as a “Wi-Fi in the sky”, was developed as a “gateway” system that allows aircraft with incompatible radio and datalink systems to transfer information and communicate. BACN is reportedly being modified to allow fourth- to fifth-generation data sharing between fighter jets, with upgraded navigation and GPS systems and Link-16.
Carrying the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system, the E-11A can support allied forces with a comprehensive communications relay capability from altitudes up to 51,000ft, supporting voice and data links across a wide area. The system was developed using NASA’s WB-57 high altitude research aircraft, which saw deployments to Afghanistan to test and deploy BACN in an operational environment.
The mountainous terrain of many parts of Afghanistan was a major factor in BACN’s development, as placing the communications node at a high altitude could overcome many of the issues faced by ground forces where line-of-sight based communications systems were not effective. Instead of relying on lines of sight between two operators in the field, they could instead use BACN as a bridging node to enable clear, unbroken communication as long as there was a clear view of the sky. This has led to some comparisons, even within the U.S. Air Force, between BACN equipped aircraft like the E-11A and low-earth orbit satellites.
From the eight currently believed to be in service, the E-11A fleet is due to grow: on Jan. 21, 2021, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $3.6 billion contract for operations, sustainment, and support of the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN), including research, development, testing and evaluation, and integration of existing and future payloads. Together with the sustainment contract, the service disclosed that the BACN Program Office, headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, was working to procure six more E-11A aircraft over the following five years.
One aircraft was lost in Afghanistan with two fatalities in 2020, with a mechanical failure and subsequent pilot error found to be the cause. A further E-11A is due to be divested this year with the airframe believed to be #11-9001, the oldest example in service and is unique in the fleet with large, distinctive radomes on the fuselage often confused for part of the BACN system. Instead, these radomes are actually redundant holdovers from the airframe’s prior role in the development of the Royal Air Force’s now retired Sentinel R1 platform.
The U.S. Air Force plans to divest one E-11A BACN jet in FY2025.@airsuperiorx suggested it will likely be 11-9001, and I agree. The ‘Snowball’ jet has been flying with empty fairings for years and is one of the oldest E-11A BACN jets with tens of thousands of flight hours.
1/2 https://t.co/NqXpMXb5Lc pic.twitter.com/fensaBorrG
— Bizjets of War (@bizjetsofwar) April 26, 2024
New E-11As being delivered are being stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, with the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, which already operated three aircraft in 2023.
A total of 9 aircraft (3 out of the original 4 procured between 2007 and 2021, along with 6 new ones) were planned to be in service by the end of fiscal year 2027; however, considering the divestment of one airframe, it seems more likely that no more than 8 will remain in service, unless anything changes. As part of contracts negotiated to support the new CONUS E-11A unit, Northrop Grumman were also tasked with completing a modernisation programme for the aircraft, including the fitting of a new upgraded Ka-band SATCOM capability.
Meanwhile, the unmanned EQ-4B Global Hawks, which were modified to carry the same BACN payload as the E-11A fleet, were retired in 2021 and handed to the Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center where they are being evaluated for use supporting weapons development tests. They had previously seen service during Operation Inherent Resolve.
