After the departure of the United States and its allies from Afghanistan in 2021, there is a question about the existence of the E-11A BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node), it is understandable that this air communication aircraft has a big contribution in intelligence and tactical missions in the field of military operations.
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In reality, E-11As were deployed at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan until 2020, after which, concurrent with the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, E-11A units were transferred to Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and then to Air Base Prince Sultan (Prince Sultan Air Base) in Saudi Arabia.
Well, what has gone unnoticed, the US Air Force (USAF) has deployed a new generation of E-11A to Saudi Arabia. Quoted from eurasiantimes.com, this was announced by the USAF in a press release released on January 2, 2023.
The E-11A only received the water salute after arriving at Prince Sultan Air Base. (USAF)
A BACN E-11A arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base on 16 December 2022.
The new E-11A, with serial number 21-9045, was delivered to the USAF by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Defense in September 2022, and the aircraft arrived in Saudi Arabia on 16 December 2022, to officially join the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron at Prince Sultan Air Base.
The aircraft is the first of six new E-11As, which are expected to be received by the USAF in late 2026. BACN's newest E-11A is built from the heavily modified Bombardier Global 6500 business jet, while the USAF has three other E-11As by type. BD-700 and Global 6000.
The USAF announced its plans to acquire six new E-11As in February 2021 after one of four E-11As crashed in Afghanistan in 2020. On January 27, 2020, a BACN E-11A with registration number 11-9358 was reported to have crashed and caught fire in Ghazi, Afghanistan, where the area is controlled by the Taliban militia.
Reports suggest that the jet's BACN capabilities could be invaluable in future multinational coalition operations, given their ability to translate between multiple platforms that may not be able to communicate directly with one another.
The E-11A BACN was developed by Northrop Grumman, which then selected Bombarder to supply its Global 6000 and Global 6500 aircraft as platforms.
The E-11A had to be regularly rotated back to the United States for maintenance and other work, and because available units were so few, training of new pilots to fly them mostly took place right in the field of operations. The 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron is the only E-11A unit operational in the US Air Force.
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