Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed flight testing of the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN), a significant milestone toward providing warfighters an advanced way to share critical information by communicating over airborne networks at high altitudes.

BACN is an Internet protocol-based airborne communications relay and information server that links radios and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems for U.S. Department of Defense networks. Flying at extremely high altitude, BACN extends the range of line-of-sight radios, relaying information to airborne and surface-based units, and, via satellite, to distant command centers.

For the flight tests, conducted earlier this month at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, the BACN gateway system payload was carried by a NASA WB-57 aircraft, selected because of its high-altitude flight capabilities. The tests included radio communications between the airborne and ground systems and confirmed the communications capabilities required of the BACN system.

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