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US Air Force plans to retire E-11A BACN communications jets by 2028, shift battlefield comms and data fusion to space

The U.S. Air Force says it has seven E-11s in the current fleet and plans to retire all E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node aircraft in 2028. The service will replace their BACN role with the emerging Department of the Air Force Battle Network, bridging with a hybrid SATCOM terminal.

Discovered 2026-04-30T10:12:30.373228-07:00 | 2026-04-30T10:12:30.373228-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The E-11A BACN retirement by FY2028 marks a service-level shift from airframe-based battlefield communications to space-supported data fusion and relay, changing requirements for the broader battle-network architecture.
It ties directly to the Air Force/Space Force push for resilient space communications and relay pathways, including laser and MILNET relay efforts such as Space Force advances laser crosslink flight hardware with K2 Space to test missile-defense data links and Space Force awards BAE Systems $11.8M to demo satellite-to-satellite comms for Golden Dome MILNET relay.
The move also increases near-term integration risk and program transition pressure—using a hybrid SATCOM terminal as a bridge—at the same time the service is investing in multidomain communications capabilities like WaRTAK convoy communications and situational awareness upgrade.

Reported By

Air & Space Forces Mag defcrosnews.com aerospaceglobalnews.com Defense Daily aviationnews.eu Breaking Defense