{"id":26803,"date":"2024-07-03T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/07\/03\/air-forces-wifi-in-the-sky-provides-a-backbone-for-gaza-airdrops\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:20:32","slug":"air-forces-wifi-in-the-sky-provides-a-backbone-for-gaza-airdrops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/c2-comms\/2024\/07\/03\/air-forces-wifi-in-the-sky-provides-a-backbone-for-gaza-airdrops\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force\u2019s \u2018WiFi in the sky\u2019 provides a backbone for Gaza airdrops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force\u2019s E-11A airborne communications relay planes have been referred to as \u201cWiFi in the sky\u201d for their ability to share battlefield data with faraway aircraft as well as troops on the ground, including across the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan for which they were developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aircraft, a modified <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/air\/2021\/06\/03\/us-air-force-awards-465m-contract-for-new-e-11a-planes\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bombardier business jet outfitted with Northrop Grumman\u2019s Battlefield Airborne Communications Node payload<\/a>, or BACN, is lesser known than the Air Force\u2019s stalwart fleet of bombers, fighters and cargo jets. Now, with U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, the E-11 has taken on a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acc.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/3814626\/e-11a-aircraft-play-key-role-during-humanitarian-airdrops-in-gaza\/\" target=\"_blank\">behind-the-scenes role<\/a> supporting the multinational mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/05\/12\/georgia-base-welcomes-first-bacn-communications-relay-plane\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/230424-F-HX153-1075.jfif_.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Georgia base welcomes first \u2018BACN\u2019 communications relay plane<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron at Robins AFB will serve as the stateside home for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since March, the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, the only unit in the Air Force to fly the aircraft, has supported more than 30 of the service\u2019s airdrops in Gaza while operating out of an undisclosed location in U.S. Central Command. Pilots with the squadron who spoke with Air Force Times in an interview declined to discuss specific missions, but offered brief insights into their work in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has participated in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/06\/10\/air-force-resumes-humanitarian-aid-drops-into-gaza\/\" target=\"_blank\"> 40 airdrops alongside coalition partners since March<\/a>. Those missions were paused for more than a month as Israel\u2019s invasion of the city of Rafah began in early May. The U.S. flew its most recent airdrop June 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe BACN mission provides the Air Force, as well as joint and international partners, line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight interoperability, and that\u2019s between dissimilar platforms with varying electronic capabilities,\u201d 430th EECS Commander Lt. Col. R. Clayton \u201cVector\u201d McCart said. \u201cWe capture, translate, combine and, ultimately, relay and extend legacy and modern comms and data links.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means flagging potential threats to the cargo aircraft ferrying shipments of food, any course corrections or other important details from mission planners and other troops around the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a region as large as CENTCOM, airdrops can be derailed by a number of variables, from weather to other flight safety issues. The BACN aircraft, which carries two pilots, can quickly relay real-time changes coming from the Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar to mission partners on the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can monitor progress in a way that other platforms may not be able to see \u2026 as far as locations of the assets, the weather calls, etc. Weather plays a big factor in the airdrops off the coast of Gaza,\u201d Capt. Britton \u201cRad\u201d Ellington, an E-11A pilot who previously flew the service\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/02\/16\/first-jstars-jet-flies-into-retirement-after-nearly-30-years-of-service\/\" target=\"_blank\">now-retired E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System<\/a>, or JSTARS, aircraft, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a range of more than 6,900 miles and a typical sortie time of around 10 hours, the aircraft can take over where satellite phones fail, and interpret transmissions between the military\u2019s myriad communications systems that can\u2019t otherwise connect.<b> <\/b>While AFCENT declined to say how many of the service\u2019s seven E-11As are operating in theater, the 430th acts as a data lilypad for more than 1,000 hours every two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re just not relegated to an airdrop. For instance, we could do that as a part of a larger expectation from CENTCOM leadership, and just move around the battlespace. \u2026 We\u2019re not really tethered to any one location,\u201d McCart said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The E-11A is in the process of establishing its new home at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, within the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. It\u2019s one of four missions replacing JSTARS planes at Robins over the next several years; the squadron is expected to become fully operational by 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 430th EECS, which deploys out of the Middle East, and doubles as a training unit, will shift its training mission to Robins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery sortie is a training sortie, in the sense that we learn every day that we fly,\u201d McCart said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force&#8217;s E-11A airborne communications relay jets are providing a crucial backbone for humanitarian aid missions over Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":77175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,8,29,35,38],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-26803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-c2-comms","category-home","category-c2-comms-battlefield-tech","category-mobility"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UIHOUY4ATJGNVLQBMMX3DGGL7E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/07\/03\/air-forces-wifi-in-the-sky-provides-a-backbone-for-gaza-airdrops\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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