Surveillance and Control Data Link Network (SCDLN) for Joint STARS

One of the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) communications system is used to tie together an airborne radar platform and many mobile ground based facilities. The Surveillance and Control Data Link Network (SCDLN) uses a secure, highly jam-resistant, dynamically alterable two-way digital data link for the control and distribution of information. The downlink transfers processed real-time radar imagery data from the airborne platform to a network of ground stations; while the uplink provides message communications between ground terminals and the airborne platform or between any two ground terminals in the net using the airborne platform as a relay. The network has growth potential to many other applications; like transferring radar imagery utilizing crosslinks for wide area connectivity to other airborne platforms, Air Operational Center (AOC), or satellite(s) for worldwide distribution of selected important imagery data.<>