JOIN T D ATA
ADF JOINT DATA NETWORK PROGRAM The ADF is modernising the datalinks that carry information between aircraft, ships, vehicles and ground nodes in a decade-long project costing up to $1 billion BY MAX BLENKIN
A
ustralia recognises that the changing threat environment, and the growing capability of peer and near-peer adversaries, could erode a longstanding advantage – the secure real-time transfer of tactical data by way of Link 11, which operates in the high frequency (HF) band, and Link 16, which operates in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band. While these datalinks are the focus of Joint Project 9347 Phase 1, Defence takes a broader view. BRIG Warren Gould, Director-General for Joint Command and Control, prefers the term Joint Data Network rather than datalinks. “Joint Data Networks is one of five lines of activity occurring in the Joint C4 program,” BRIG Gould told ADBR. “Joint Data Networks is fundamentally machine-tomachine formatted messaging … in the battlespace that we seek to automate to give us a decisive edge when on operations. Some of the examples out there include Link 16, Link 11, Integrated Broadcast Service and others.” Link 11 and Link 16 are not actual hardware, rather they are protocols for transfer of data. Link 11 was developed in the 1950s and is mostly used in the HF band, though it can also function in UHF. The HF band gives Link 11 its major advantage – the ability to transmit data long-range, beyond-line-ofsight – a useful capability should the ADF ever need to operate in a satellite-denied environment. But Link 11 is also regarded as a legacy system that needs replacing.
The better-known Link 16 operates line-of-sight in the UHF band, specifically between 960 and 1,215 Megahertz, and is the primary datalink for the US military, ADF and many others. It provides jam-resistant, fast digital data transfer, enabling secure situational awareness and integrated fire control and command and control capabilities across a range of platforms. For the ADF, these platforms include combat aircraft such as F-35A, F/A-18F Super and F/A18A/B classic Hornets as well as P-8A Poseidon, E-7A Wedgetail, MH-60R Romeo and C-130J. It is also installed on the Navy’s new Hobart class Aegis destroyers and will be a key enabler of Army’s new LAND 19 Phase 7B NASAMS short-range ground-based air defence system. Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) is a satellite-based service. It was developed in the 1990s in the US to replace legacy intelligence broadcast systems with a single system to transmit data to tactical users as quickly as possible. In Australia, IBS was delivered through Joint Project 2065 to disseminate tactically significant information and blue force tracking directly to deployed forces by way of the US Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) constellation, in which Australia is a partner. That data is produced by Australian and allied intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets. The next stage of IBS is to extend the capability, installing it on those ships where it’s not already in place.
‘The US remains extremely sensitive about this technology...’
