military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...
tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links.
With Link 16,
military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:
* Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...
as well as ships and ground forces may exchange their tactical picture in near-real time. Link 16 also supports the exchange of text messages, imagery data and provides two channels of digital voice (2.4
kbit/s
In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mul ...
or 16 kbit/s in any combination). Link 16 is defined as one of the digital services of the JTIDS / MIDS in NATO's '' Standardization Agreement'' STANAG 5516. MIL-STD-6016 is the related
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
Link 16 is a TDMA-based secure, jam-resistant, high-speed
digital data
Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example is ...
link which operates in the radio frequency band 960–1,215 MHz, allocated in line with the
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
(ITU) Radio regulations to the ''aeronautical radionavigation'' service and to the ''radionavigation satellite'' service. This frequency range limits the exchange of information to users within line-of-sight of one another, although with satellite capabilities and adhoc protocols, it is nowadays possible to pass Link 16 data over long-haul protocols such as TCP/IP using MIL-STD 3011 (JREAP) or STANAG 5602 (SIMPLE). It uses the transmission characteristics and protocols, conventions, and fixed-length or variable length message formats defined by MIL-STD 6016 and STANAG 5516 (formerly the JTIDS technical interface design plan). Information is typically passed at one of three data rates: 31.6, 57.6, or 115.2 kilobits per second (kbits/s), although the radios and frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) waveform itself can support throughput values well over 1 Mbit/s.
Link 16 information is primarily coded in J.-series messages which are binary data words with well-defined meanings. These data words are grouped in ''functional areas'', and allocated to ''network participation groups'' (NPG) (virtual networks), most importantly:
* ''PPLI'', or Precise Participant Location and Identification (network participation groups 5 and 6),
* ''Surveillance'' (network participation group 7),
* ''Command (Mission Management/Weapons Coordination)'' (network participation group 8),
* ''(Aircraft) Control'' (network participation group 9),
* ''Electronic Warfare & Coordination'' (network participation group 10).
Development
Link 16 is intended to advance Tactical Data Links (TDLs) as the NATO standard for data link information exchange. Link 16 equipment is located in ground, airborne, and sea-based
air defense
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
platforms and selected fighter aircraft. The U.S. industry is now developing a new Link 16 SCA compliant radio MIDS-JTRS which currently is projected to implement nine various tactical waveforms, including Link 16.
The MIDS program, which manage the development of the communication component for Link 16, is managed by the International Program Office located in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. In the United States, the lead Air Force command for the MIL-STD-6016 standard, plans, and requirements is the
Air Force Global Cyberspace Integration Center
The Air Force Command and Control Integration Center was an Air Combat Command field operating agency responsible for innovating, designing, developing, integrating, and sustaining command and control capabilities. It was a tenant unit at Langle ...
at
Langley AFB
Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...
, with JTIDS program execution managed by the
653d Electronic Systems Wing
The 653d Electronic Systems Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
Mission
The 653d Electronic Systems Wing executes a $21 billion fiscal year defense plan budget with 1,300 personnel. ...
B-2 Spirit
The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American Heavy bomber, heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth aircraft, stealth technology designed to penetrator (aircraft), penetrat ...
E-7A Wedgetail
The Boeing 737 AEW&C is a twin-engine airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design. It is lighter than the 707-based Boeing E-3 Sentry, and has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar ant ...
F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...
F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, t ...
*
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...
KC-46
The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is an American military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed by Boeing from its 767 jet airliner. In February 2011, the tanker was selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the ...
HH-60W
The Sikorsky MH-60G/HH-60G Pave Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It is a derivative of the UH-60 Black Hawk and incorporates the US Air Force PAVE electronic syste ...
P-8A Poseidon
The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN).
Th ...
RC-135 Rivet Joint
The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed, LTV, E-Systems, and L3 Technologies, and used by the United States Air Force and Royal ...
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
* VESTA (Verifiëren, Evalueren, Simuleren, Trainen en Analyseren); a minivan with radiotower used for training purposes,
Missile defense systems
*
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...
*
SAMP/T
The Aster 15 and Aster 30 are a Franco-Italian family of all-weather, vertical launch surface-to-air missiles.Patriot ICC and Battery Command Post (BCP)
* THAAD
* JTAGS
* NASAMS
* Joint Land Attack/Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensors ( JLENS)
command and control
Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...
elements of its UH-60 Black Hawk fleet, and intends to pursue fielding to AH-64 Apache and other aviation assets.
The
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
will add Link 16 to its
Rockwell B-1 Lancer
The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along wit ...
and
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
bombers with the Common Link Integration Processing system. A key exception is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor which can only receive but not transmit Link 16 data. According to the Air Force, transmitting data would reveal its location. Upgrades to the F-22 has since given it the ability to transmit Link 16 as well.
653d Electronic Systems Wing
The 653d Electronic Systems Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
Mission
The 653d Electronic Systems Wing executes a $21 billion fiscal year defense plan budget with 1,300 personnel. ...
JTIDS program execution
*
JREAP {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
The Joint Range Extension Applications Protocol (JREAP) enables tactical data messages to be transmitted over long-distance networks, e.g. satellite links, thereby extending the range of T ...