Northrop to Equip Additional E-11A Jets With Airborne Comms Gateway

Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) has secured a contract from the U.S. Air Force to equip two additional E-11A modified Bombardier aircraft with an airborne communications relay and gateway system.

The award was made under a $3.6 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covering the development, testing, integration and sustainment of the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node payload, the company said Tuesday.

To date, three E-11As jets carry the BACN payload to facilitate aircraft command and control as well as secure data collection and sharing in support of a range of missions including airdrops, close air support operations, humanitarian assistance and personnel recovery.

Kevin Berkowitz, director of network solutions at Northrop, said the platform works to connect various systems and sensors to enable coordination for joint warfighters operating across air, land, sea and space domains.

In 2020, BACN reached 200,000 combat operational flight hours since its initial deployment with the Air Force in 2008.

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