Airborne Communications Node (ACN/AJCN)
The Airborne Communications Node (ACN) program goal was to enable an affordable, autonomous communications infrastructure that simultaneously provided assured communications, situational awareness and signals intelligence (SIGINT). ACN payloads were designed to be integrated on platforms ranging from High Altitude Endurance (HAE) unmanned airborne platforms (e.g., Global Hawk) to vessels or ground vehicles. The ACN on an HAE platform was developed to provide wide-area wireless communications and SIGINT services over the theater of operation for joint and multinational forces by establishing an early robust airborne infrastructure for intra-theater line-of-site (LOS) and reachback beyond line-of-site (BLOS) situations without the need for large in-theater assets. ACN would augment and enhance the battlefield communications infrastructure in order to adapt communications, situational awareness and SIGINT services to the flow of battle. The ACN system operational utility was assessed by U.S. Joint Forces Command as part of a Joint ACTD, named the Adaptive Joint C4ISR Node (AJCN) that began in FY 2003 and was completed in FY 2005. An extended user evaluation will take place in FY2006 - FY2007. The ACTD integrated ACN payloads onboard Air Force and Army aircraft.
Program Accomplishments:
- Conducted a flight demonstration lab payload and began integration of the flight payload that will be used for the Interim Joint Military Utility Assessment (IJMUA).
- Integrated a Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) Software Component Architecture (SCA) 2.2 Core Framework and showed the ability to run software waveforms using that SCA implementation.
- Integrated AJCN payload and antennas on C-23 aircraft and conducted an Interim Joint Military Utility Assessment (IJMUA) of multi-mission functionality.
- Conducted flight test on C-23 to evaluate in-flight co-site mitigation performance.
- Integrated JTRS (Single Channel Ground Air Radio System) SINCGARS waveform within AJCN architecture to demonstrate feasibility of porting JTRS waveforms.
- Initiated development of Concept of Operations, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP), and training package.
- Investigated technologies to provide secure waveforms.
- Investigated technologies to incorporate other systems (such as UGS) into the ACN architecture.
- Investigated technologies for advanced networking concepts, especially between dissimilar platforms.
- Integrated AJCN payloads on 2 Hunters and 2 NKC-135s.
