Northrop to soon test Communication Network between 5th Gen Jets

Northrop Grumman will begin testing the US Air Force’s gatewayONE net-centric communication system that will connect the service’s fifth generation platforms such as the F-22 and F-35 jets, soon.

“Northrop Grumman Corporation is rapidly working on developing and fielding a gatewayONE prototype, an open system enabling translation and communication across platforms, in support of the Advanced Battle Management family of Systems (ABMS). Testing of a flight-representative configuration will be conducted in a systems integration laboratory, on the ground, and in the air based on the four-month operational demonstration pace,” the company said in a statement Friday.

Work performed under this program will directly support live demonstrations of the Air Force’s developing Advanced Battle Management family of Systems. This capability could be used to network together the types of aircraft being developed through the Air Force’s Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology initiative.

Northrop’s Freedom radio product line will aid in connecting 5th-to-5th generation aircraft of a single type as well as 5th generation to 4th generation platforms — and via ABMS extend this to enable multiple 5th generation platform types to share and integrate data, helping make interoperability a reality.

Freedom multifunction, software-defined radios are the heart of the F-22 integrated avionics suite and F-35 communications, navigation and identification system. Building upon investments, the company is developing affordable variants customized to fit multiple platforms.

Under the contract, awarded by the USAF Life Cycle Management Center’s C3I & Networks Directorate, Northrop Grumman is providing engineering, management and technical assistance for the Air Force’s integration of net-centric 5th-to-5th generation aircraft communications capabilities and other platforms into a modular, open-architecture gateway.