Navy's SPAWAR Combat Technology Aids Operations in Japan

Navy Aircraft Using New SPAWAR Technology to Support Search and Rescue Operations in Japan

03.28.2011 Story by Chief Petty Officer Lesley Maceyak SAN DIEGO – WAR ON TERROR

A new network architecture designed by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command is providing enhanced command and control capabilities for naval aircraft operating from USS Ronald Reagan in support of Operation Tomodachi, the international humanitarian relief effort in Japan. Conceived by engineers assigned to the airborne networking team at SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific, the network solution was originally intended to address an Urgent Operational Needs Statement from United States Navy Central Command in Bahrain. The UONS sought beyond line of sight classified connectivity for E-2C “Hawkeye” aircraft operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We recently received some extremely positive feedback from aircrews flying E-2C Hawkeye aircraft telling us this network solution, designed for combat, is making a huge, positive impact on the Navy’s ability to support search and rescue, and resupply operations,” according to Cmdr. Justin Fine, Project Lead for the E-2C airborne networking team at SSC Pacific. “The network is giving the Navy’s command and control aircraft an improved and additional ability to relay real time data to other operational assets, assisting first responders on the ground.”