Northrop wins $3.6B Air Force battlefield comms contract
By
Nick Wakeman
Northrop Grumman has won a $3.6 billion Air Force contract to build out the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node system to improve the warfighter's situational awareness.
Northrop Grumman has won a $3.6 billion contract for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node support.
The Air Force contract covers operations, sustainment and support. The company will also provide research, development, test and evaluation, and integration for payloads connected to the BACN system.
The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node works in conjunction with the unmanned aerial vehicle Global Hawk to create what Northrop calls a “persistent gateway” that receives, bridges and distributes communications on the battlefield.
The system overcomes line of sight issues for communications and enables better situational awareness from ground units to the highest command levels, the company says on its website.
Northrop began working on BACN several years ago as part of a demonstration project.