AIRCRAFT V-BAND WIRELESS COMMAND/RESPONSE DATA LINK

A CONCEPT FOR A WIRELESS V-BAND COMMAND/RESPONSE DATA LINK IS DESCRIBED WHICH WOULD HAVE MAJOR IMPACT ON COMMUNICATIONS IN AIRCRAFT AND SUPPORT ELECTRONIC SUBSYSTEMS (INCLUDING MISSILES AND SUBMUNITIONS). THE WIRELESS LINK CAN BE USED TO REPLACE HARD-WIRED CABLES OR DATA BUS (TO SAVE WEIGHT AND IMPROVE RELIABILITY) AND/OR AS A REDUNDANT BACKUP TO IMPROVE WEAPON AIRCRAFT SURVIVABILITY IN EVENT OF BATTLE DAMAGE. FURTHERMORE, THE WIRELESS LINK CAN EXTEND THE TOTAL AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN LIMITED RANGE DATA FLOW BETWEEN AIRCRAFT AND MISSILE AFTER LAUNCH OR BETWEEN A BUS MISSILE AND THE SUBMUNITIONS WHICH IT RELEASES. THE EMPHASIS IN THIS PROPOSAL IS ON THE USE OF THE WIRELESS LINK WITHIN THE AIRCRAFT AND DEMONSTRATING THAT A MIL-STD 1553B CAPABILITY FOR SUCH A BUS IS FEASIBLE. THE USE OF THE V-BAND (55-65GHZ) REDUCES PROBABILITY OF ENEMY DETECTION AND JAMMING OF THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. THE COMMAND/RESPONSE SYSTEM WOULD BE FORMATTED TO BE COMPLETELY COMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING 1553B DATA BUS SYSTEMS.