https://breakingdefense.com/2023/11/...16-connection/
….While Link 16 connectivity is line-of-sight, Tournear explained that the next iteration of Transport Layer satellites, called Tranche 1, will include 126 satellites and thus ensure that at least two satellites will be over the horizon 90 percent of the time. Furthermore, he said, most of the antennas used by military Link 16 radios are nearly omnidirectional, so they don’t have to be directly pointed at a signal source to connect.
He noted that the “stressing case” for the satellite’s Link 16 terminals will be connecting to a handheld AN/PRC-161 Link16 Battlefield Awareness and Targeting System – Dismounted (BATS-D) radio, because of all the radios used by military forces, it has the “lowest gain antenna.”
The AN/PRC-161 was designed to provide machine-to-machine linkages between handheld radios being used by troops on the ground and those on aircraft providing close air support. It is expected to be used by US and Five Eyes forces alike. The Air Force
in 2019 granted a contract worth up to $93 million to Viasat for production of radios for special operations and expeditionary forces, with work set to be completed by the end of the year.