No this isn’t the BACN you think it is

There was a gag term – bacn – going around the web not too long ago which according to the entry in Wikipedia goes like this

Bacn (pronounced bacon) is the term given to electronic messages which have been subscribed to and are therefore not unsolicited but are often unread by the recipient for a long period of time, if at all. Bacn has been described as “email you want but not right now.”^[1][2]

Bacn differs from spam in that the emails are not unsolicited: the recipient has somehow signed up to receive it. Bacn is also not necessarily sent in bulk. Bacn derives its name from the idea that it is “better than spam, but not as good as a personal email”

This however is not the same meaning that the Air Force has for BACN. Theirs is an actual short form for something they believe will change how its vast array of drones, jet and ground forces are deployed. Northrop Grumman and a $280 million contract are responsible for what the Air Force is billing as a sort of universal translator, or in proper milspeak – Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, hence the BACN.

The object of this universal translator is to allow previously separate communication systems to talk with each other – or once again in proper milspeak “”extends communications ranges, bridges between radio frequencies and ‘translates’ among incompatible communications systems,” using Internet Protocols”

BACN provides a high-speed, Internet protocol (IP)-based airborne network infrastructure that that extends communications ranges, bridges between radio frequencies, and “translates” among incompatible communications systems – including both tactical and civil cellular systems. Using BACN, a Special Forces soldier on the ground could use a civil cell phone to speak to a fighter pilot in the cockpit. BACN supports seamless movement of imagery, video, voice and digital messages, with support for waveforms that include SINCGARS, DAMA, EPLRS, SADL, Link 16, and IP-based networking connectivity using TTN, TCDL technology, CLIP, and 802.11b. Northrop Grumman’s joint translator/forwarder (JXF), originally developed for US Joint Forces Command, is to accomplish digital-message transformation.

Source: Defense Industry Daily – Bringing Home the BACN to Front-Line Forces

hat tip to Wired: Danger Room