THE US Air Force awarded Learjet a contract on June 1 that could be worth as much as $465 million if all options are exercised. The initial contract provided $70 million for the purchase of a single Bombardier Global 6000 business jet that will be modified to the E-11A configuration by Northrop Grumman. The E-11A is referred to as a Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) and is designed to relay data between platforms that cannot normally share information. Up to six Global 6000s could be purchased. The USAF received $63 million for the E-11 program in Fiscal Year 2021, to procure the first aircraft, which will replace another that was written off in a fatal crash in Dih Yak district, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, on January 27, 2020. The service's FY2022 request includes $124 million for two more E-11 As.
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