Even if the F-22 and F-35 are capable share information the two-way action in the battle of radio data and other innovations to transmit data for targeting, monitoring and even execution of attacks, there is still the problem of detection.
As stealth platforms, the intention is not to detect them. However, radio frequencies emit an electronic signature that, even if secure enough, can emit a potentially detectable radio frequency signal. Radio interference, jamming attempts and electronic warfare are considered a “given” in any kind of scenario for a future war. Therefore, introducing the question of whether there can be some kind of data connectivity that is less detectable to the enemy, so that the 5th generation aircraft can maintain its hidden characteristics.
Northrop Grumman is now testing Freedom 550 a radio designed to maintain stealth mode through an integrated software-defined radio. It works by sending data packets from the Internet Protocol (IP) through waveforms to transmit information related to the fight. Colin Fan, director of strategy and technology communications for Northrop Grumman, explained that there could be a multifunctional box that could perform up to twenty-five different functions. Stealth mode is maintained, Fan explained, using fewer modules to connect the two data connections together via a converter. Fewer modules help maintain hidden communications by reducing emissions of a non-directional antenna that is more likely to be detected. The wider the signal and the wider the broadcast, the larger the potentially detectable electronic signature, something that of course can be a risk to be detected. In recent years, the Air Force has already managed to design a two-way communication link between F-35 and F-22 aircraft. CONNECTION 16however, the existing data connection does not allow stealth mode. The Freedom 550 system, on the other hand, does.
Described as a prototype network-oriented gateway, the Northrop Freedom 550 gateway technology is being developed to support the Air Force Advanced battle management system (ABMS), a coordinated series of networked battle nodes designed to form a “networked” or interconnected exchange of information in battle. The ABMS program, designed to support joint management of all domains and control (JADC2) will no longer limit communications to strictly linear or furnace communication channels, but rather allow for wider functional connectivity to connect weapons and sensors, share surveillance and target data across multiple echelons and battle platforms simultaneously.
“I can share data back in the Joint Forces. We essentially collect data and share it back and forth with naval things like air and missile defenses, ongoing fires, and then we can go back to where you can put the data back in, ”Fan said.
The technological basis for all of this is woven into advanced computing applications, many of which are making rapid progress with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, said Jenna Pauxtis, vice president, communications solutions, network information solutions division, Northrop Grumman The national interest.
“With AI, we can make real-time high-speed decisions,” Paukstis said.
This type of advanced computation with an activated edge algorithm can collect input from the sensor, repel it from a huge, seemingly unlimited database in real time to make comparisons, make identifications, find moments and objects of great importance, organize and distill the information … and share it in full force. Data collection can go so far, especially when it comes in such volumes from so many different sources. AI-activated computations can undertake this type of circumstance and perform critical organizational, analytical, and procedural functions in milliseconds, exponentially faster than anyone could.
“Computational edges allow Radio Freedom, integrated communications, navigation and target identification systems. This is key to providing our customers with real-time decision-making capabilities to deal with the threat close to the couple and to have that decision and information superiority. Said Paukstis.
Kris Osborn is a security editor at National interest. Osborne previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army – Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. Osborne has also worked as a leading and terrestrial military specialist on national television networks. He is a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel and The History Channel. He also holds a master’s degree in comparative literature from Columbia University.
Image: Reuters
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