Behind the Lines: Meet the newest plane to land at Robins Air Force Base

One of the units that will eventually replace the J-Stars mission at Robins Air Force Base is busy getting people and planes in place. 

The BACN is the name of the weapons system, the aircraft is known as the E-11A. It’s the newest plane to land at Robins Air Force Base.

BACN stands for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node. Its mission is to connect military forces. 

“That sounds really simple almost, but the impact that can have in a major conflict or any type of military operation, it really can be enormous,” Commander of the new 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, Lt. Colonel Scott Sevigny said. 

Sevigny says it is almost like a giant Wi-Fi router in the sky

“If you have one type of radio or one type of data link that wouldn’t otherwise be able to talk to another radio or data link, the BACN provides the capability to connect to those people,” he said

This is done by two pilots on board, a team operating the technology from the ground, and a support crew back at home. 

“You need intel people, you need aviation resource management people,” Sevigny said. “The list really could go on and on. There’s a bunch of different career fields that we have that we’re bringing to Robins in order to help stand up the squadron.” 

Military troops started using the plane and technology about 15 years ago but the Air Force had to pull people from different units to run it.

“Once the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron is fully stood up, we’ll be able to provide all that capability from here, from Robins,” Sevigny said. 

But standing up a brand new squadron doesn’t happen overnight. This is one of four new missions coming to the base. 

Earlier this year, Robins activated the Battle Management Control Squadron. Also coming to the base, an Advance Battle Management System and a Spectrum Warfare group.