I think that it can be repeated across nodes
and.....
yes, with more nodes in the network, so long as the relay hop between adjacent nodes is within the RF horizon for each individual relay pair, you can trace a route from the most distant node back to the ship even if the most distant node is not directly within the RF horizon of the ship's antenna (cf. similar network node hops used with CEC DDS)...
they can also bounce indirectly.
Strikes me as a nice example of just how different 5th gen CONOPS are likely to become going forward. Eg. with a highly directional DL like MADL, your F35's on BARCAP could be feeding data from others operating behind enemy lines to the next package on its way into Red team airspace, picket ships around a CVN or even Patriot et al.
Australian F-35A's will most definitely come with MADL. It is key to their future networking capability in LO configurations, however they will have Link 16 as well.
you'd have to punt on the geek planes getting up
I think BACN will be the eventual solution. Too many different standards to replace simultaneously. Legacy waveforms will always be ADF's bugbear as replacing everything in one go just never seems to happen and operations tend to throw things further askew, because the TIC can't wait for formal acquisition processes to run their course...
they've certainly geared up for long term work in Oz. when I started dealing with them they had half a dozen people here - and that included guests with passports.
It has been stated by many in the program and from LM. Every F-35, whether sold in the US, to a Partner, or through an FMS deal will be identical in its baseline config. This included all basic hardware like the CNI (comms, nav, MADL, etc), radar, computer, EOTS, EODAS, stealth coatings, etc. There are additional items that any customer can get like brake chute, refueling probe on the A model, etc. Then there are also other items that will be exclusive to US jets but these are crypto/IFF related.
Israel’s First F-35 Ceremonially Rolled Out | Defense News: Aviation International News
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2017/April 2017/The-Israeli-F-35s.aspx April 2017
...and that picture is only likely to get prettier with a weapon like SACM. If Raytheon follow the philosophy of LM's Cuda (where two of them fit in every AMRAAM slot), you're looking at ~4 x SACM + ~4 x AMRAAM in the air to air role - all carried internally. Nothing to sneeze at that's for sure...Looks like another of the 'ABJ's favourite 'toys' is about to be taken away with 6x internal AMRAAM or 'potentially' full internal A2G stores remaining useable with 4x missiles on the bay doors, being pushed ahead in the requirements priority list...
Looks like they are thinking about an MER on the internal bay door, or perhaps a second rail on the outer door (existing rail is on the inner door) with NO AMRAAM changes required and air to ground stores capability remaining useable...
Can't wait to see if they can pull it off. Seeing F-35's taking off with 8x SBD II / SPEAR 3 and 4x AMRAAM will be a sight so to speak, or rather 'won't' be a sight...
Air Force Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAPcvOGZ-hY