The U.S. Air Force has awarded the multi-million dollar contract for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) Bombardier Global 6000 business jets to Learjet Inc. private-jet company.
The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, from Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and announced on Tuesday, is valued at more than $464,8 million.
This contract provides for the purchase of up to six Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft and completion work.
Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to be completed May 2026.
The E-11 aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global 6000 platform, provides an airborne data relay and gateway that allows real-time information exchanges between different tactical data link systems.
The BACN payload that they carry is an extremely robust communications gateway that can rapidly send and receive data transmitted through various waveforms to and from a wide array of aerial platforms, as well as forces on the ground.
The BACN program delivers the flexibility required to conduct communications operations in hostile conditions and austere locations, making it an indispensable command and control asset.
BACN provides communications channels and channel conversions in a geographic area where terrestrial services are either restricted or unavailable. BACN offers three service categories: Tactical Data Services, Voice Services and Inter Protocol Services. In general, BACN provides value to users by either extending the range of an external interface, or by converting external interface data from one format to another.