Honeywell showcases advanced defense connectivity with Boeing 757-200 testbed

Other systems include Viasat's L-band satellite-based SwiftBroadband for cockpit communications and safety services. A smaller Honeywell Aspire 350 antenna system delivers services via Iridium’s next-gen Certus service powered by its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of L-band satellites. Cellular network connections are also accommodated on the ground through a large pylon high up on the starboard side of the forward fuselage.

The boarding process took place via the Inflite Jet Centre FBO. The facility’s comfortable interior contrasted with the utilitarian cabin of the 757. The aircraft features only 30 seats installed immediately aft of the cockpit with exposed cabling and structures elsewhere in the cabin.

Multiple workstations for flight test engineers occupy the center cabin. Wes Cook explained during a pre-flight briefing that “we’re demonstrating perhaps the world’s most highly connected aircraft. It has seven satcom services available and we can integrate modems to get into any LEO or GEO network; we’ve demonstrated MEO too.”

Honeywell calls this demo ‘PACE’ — Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency — referring to levels of connectivity in airspace where jamming or weather might limit options.

In-flight demonstrations showed extraordinary data rates via multiple systems simultaneously using large monitors onboard. Despite occasional Wi-Fi drops during this one-hour demonstration flight, real-time data flow was evident on monitors around the cabin.