Link-16

[Johare]

Hey all,

I'm new to the Defense industry and actually recently started my first job at LM working for the Po-sheng Program which is a command and control program for taiwan national defense. I'm performing a subcontracts role for the program and am slowly learning about the technologies used. Could anyone help me get up to speed and tell me a little more about link-16. Because i'm new i really haven't put two and two together but woudl be happy to share any info your interested in.

 

[StingrayOZ]

What inparticular do you wish to know..

Details about the protocol, how it works, what does it do? A public forum may not be able to provide you with specific technical details you require.

 

[windscorpion]

The nitty gritty is probably something you are going to have to look up in specialist publications, journals and books but web wise why not start here and start googling anything of interest,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_16

 

[Salty Dog]

The nitty gritty is probably something you are going to have to look up in specialist publications, journals and books but web wise why not start here and start googling anything of interest,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_16

There is a link in the wiki page to a "TADIL J" reference guide for the US DoD services. Good place to start as well.

You most likely will concentrate on the hardware for Link-16 for the time being. If Taiwan plans to acquire a Link-16, the hardware is easy. The cryptographic equipment or "crypto" is another matter. Without the crypto you can not go secure with other Link-16 units. If Taiwan already has all the agreements and approvals in place for the crypto, then it should be okay. If not, this could take time, especially for NATO crypto.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Hey all,

I'm new to the Defense industry and actually recently started my first job at LM working for the Po-sheng Program which is a command and control program for taiwan national defense. I'm performing a subcontracts role for the program and am slowly learning about the technologies used. Could anyone help me get up to speed and tell me a little more about link-16. Because i'm new i really haven't put two and two together but woudl be happy to share any info your interested in.

If you're subbing on a Taiwanese Defence project then you should direct your questions to people in the CS Institute.... they will be more than helpful, and your industry affiliations if relevant and active (and with approp clearances) will then determine how much you can be told.

I would stay away from non specialist references - they are usually rubbish and non supportable.

 

[kato]

There's a pdf floating around of a dissertation about the bandwidth limitations of various NATO-standard datalinks, including TADIL J and such. Can be found with google with some searching. Extensively details the packet structure of these datalink protocols, only covers the crypto parts as "black box" systems.
That's pretty much the maximum you can get on such protocols without clearance.

 

[sierrahotel]

All you need is to find those documents:
NATO STANAG 5516 (Standarizaton Agreement for L-16,Unclassified)
NATO ADatP-16 (Standard Operating Procedures for L-16 ,Unclassified)
or the US MIL STD 6016.They will provide you with any detail about Link-16.

 

[AegisFC]

They hired you without you having either no previous experience with Link 16, and they didn't give you training after hiring you?
Strange...

 

[Systems Adict]

LINK-16...?

How about starting with the basics...(after all I'm renowned for stating the obvious...)

LINK, is a data transfer system which relays "real time" track data information from one ship to another. It usually does this via HF radio waves, & sends the data in "packets".

The idea is that a group of ships can utilise this data to get "a big picture "of the area they are in, by only having 1 ship transmitting on all systems gathering the data, then relaying it across the airwaves to other ships in the group, who may be closer to the action...

The type of information that is sent is the track data from the command system of the warship. This can be for multiple groups of tracks (quantities can be 50 or more) & will contain for example, if it was for an aircraft, target aircraft's speed, height & direction.

This data is fed from the command system to the LINK unit which breaks that data down into manageable packets. These are then encrypted & transmitted to other equipped ships.

The data is received, decrypted & fed to the command system. To help differentiate the tracks, it's usually written into the software of the command system to colour the tracks differently, or possibly even assign-ate them with a circle.

The trick is then for the command system on the 2nd ship to correlate the data.

In theory, it could mean that a ship 40-50 miles off the coast gathering data, can "transmit" this to a ship 12 miles off the coast. This data can then be used to plot solutions for missile attacks, etc.

LINK-16 is obviously one of the more up to date of the systems that are in service at the moment, and means that because of the technological advances over the last 10-15 years, the data transfer volume can be larger & the encryption more secure than say LINK-11.

Hope this helps

Systems Adict

 

[Feanor]

So it's essentially a datalink for ships?

 

[AegisFC]

So it's essentially a datalink for ships?

No, Army units, AIr Force units, and Naval aircraft all use it.

 

[barra]

LINK-16...?

How about starting with the basics...(after all I'm renowned for stating the obvious...)

LINK, is a data transfer system which relays "real time" track data information from one ship to another. It usually does this via HF radio waves, & sends the data in "packets".

The idea is that a group of ships can utilise this data to get "a big picture "of the area they are in, by only having 1 ship transmitting on all systems gathering the data, then relaying it across the airwaves to other ships in the group, who may be closer to the action...

The type of information that is sent is the track data from the command system of the warship. This can be for multiple groups of tracks (quantities can be 50 or more) & will contain for example, if it was for an aircraft, target aircraft's speed, height & direction.

This data is fed from the command system to the LINK unit which breaks that data down into manageable packets. These are then encrypted & transmitted to other equipped ships.

The data is received, decrypted & fed to the command system. To help differentiate the tracks, it's usually written into the software of the command system to colour the tracks differently, or possibly even assign-ate them with a circle.

The trick is then for the command system on the 2nd ship to correlate the data.

In theory, it could mean that a ship 40-50 miles off the coast gathering data, can "transmit" this to a ship 12 miles off the coast. This data can then be used to plot solutions for missile attacks, etc.

LINK-16 is obviously one of the more up to date of the systems that are in service at the moment, and means that because of the technological advances over the last 10-15 years, the data transfer volume can be larger & the encryption more secure than say LINK-11.

Hope this helps

Systems Adict

LINK 16 uses the UHF band of frequencies to operate on, not HF. As a UHF system it is restricted to "line of sight" and so relies on the use of airborne platforms to cover large areas. You can read all the blurbs about L16 that tell you its secure, jam resistant etc etc so I won't go into that. The main difference between L16 and L11 is that L16 is a nodeless system that does not rely on all players participating. A L16 network can lose multiple players, except the Network Time Reference (NTR), and it won't affect the network or the other players in it. L16 uses Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA) whereby each player is designated timeslots to transmit and receive data in and L11 relies on a polling technique that is slower and can cause problems if a player drops out. The update rate is quicker to, so L16 is better suited to air operations were a platforms position is constantly updated.
If you want to know more there is plenty of info on the net.

 

[Feanor]

No, Army units, AIr Force units, and Naval aircraft all use it.

Do MBT's and APC's have link 16 capacity or is that reserved for C2 structures? In other words is it a strategic or tactical level datalink? Or both? Sorry if my questions are a bit naive, but my knowledge of the U.S. military isn't very thorough in many areas.

 

[sierrahotel]

Do MBT's and APC's have link 16 capacity or is that reserved for C2 structures? In other words is it a strategic or tactical level datalink? Or both? Sorry if my questions are a bit naive, but my knowledge of the U.S. military isn't very thorough in many areas.

Link-16 and Link-11 are Tactical Data Links.What is MBT and APC?I am not familiar with these acronyms.

 

[Salty Dog]

Link-16 and Link-11 are Tactical Data Links.What is MBT and APC?I am not familiar with these acronyms.

MBT - Main Battle Tank

APC - Armored Personnel Carrier

 

[gf0012-aust]

Do MBT's and APC's have link 16 capacity or is that reserved for C2 structures? .

In Australia, the MBT's and some land Command vehicles are Link 16 capable.

The intent was always to allow aust armour to be able to co-operate and work with combat air assets for support etc....

 

[Feanor]

So being a tactical datalink, on ships they would be directly connected to the FCS systems of the various weapons? Is there a separate datalink for command structures?

 

[AegisFC]

So being a tactical datalink, on ships they would be directly connected to the FCS systems of the various weapons? Is there a separate datalink for command structures?

On a non-CEC ship the tracks are seen and handled by the ships Command and Decision system but they are identified as a link track and can not be targeted unless the ships own radar is tracking it.

 

[Waylander]

The IVIS in the M1A1AIM (v2?) is able to receive data from other Link-16 assets? How does it works?
Is for example the radar picture of a Hornet received by the IVIS network and automatically reworked into a viewable picture on the screens of the IVIS vehicles.
In the end the picture one sees when using an IVIS network should be a lot different from what is normally used on ships and warplanes.

 

[AegisFC]

The IVIS in the M1A1AIM (v2?) is able to receive data from other Link-16 assets? How does it works?
Is for example the radar picture of a Hornet received by the IVIS network and automatically reworked into a viewable picture on the screens of the IVIS vehicles.
In the end the picture one sees when using an IVIS network should be a lot different from what is normally used on ships and warplanes.

Link does not send raw sensor feeds over the network, it sends processed track information on what it sees and forwards data from units further away. Everyone on the network has the same JNL (JTIDS Network Library), and that JNL makes sure everyone is reading the same data on a standard format, but not everything the Hornet sees will be needed by the Abrams so either the data will first be forwarded to a C&C station or the Abrams combat system will automatically filter the data.