James
Of course the King Airs will have a satellite uplink: its a data backup in case they get shot down. BUT its a backup - its not a realtime data processing link
A datalink in case they get shot down - what a load of hoop! Some of the King Airs datalink real time FMV in the same way as Predator/Reaper/Global Hawk at anywhere between 1-3 megabits per second - try googling Project Liberty. Other King Airs are line of sight only but still use frequency spectrum to reach back their picture in the same way as Hermes450/RQ-7 Shadow/Scan Eagle/Desert Hawk.
The only difference is that unmanned systems need a control datalink at somewhere between 100-200 kilobits per second. So here is the comparison to disrobe your argument:
A. Datalink for manned/unmanned systems to reachback their picture is 1-3,000,000 bits per second.
B. Datalink to control unmanned system is 100-200,000 bits per second.
In other words for every dissemination link you can have 10-20 control links for unmanned systems. Thus the bandwidth argument is as true for manned as it is for unmanned - the reachback of the
picture is the problem.
I hope that helps you get around the untruths spread by ill informed pieces like The Register.
Cpl Clott
