Hi all,
Saw some article on the register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/28/afosr_fibreless_links/) about how the USAF has succeeded in using airborne laser beams as an ultrahigh bandwidth, ultra secure (with the potential for using quantum entanglement) intraflight datalink. They managed to to set up 35-km long laser links "without distortions" in "both stationary and flight situations. A/c to the scientists it will be pretty easy to apply the same to existing operational aircraft.
What does this have to do with the PAK-FA? Well there is a post #495 dated 13th August 2007 on key pub forums (http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66605&page=17) claiming that something similar is being investigated for the PAK-FA as well.
Extract of the paragraph is here:-
"[/quote]c) Any info on new datalink/NWC solutions?, last I have ever heard was "MSPD", you can read something about at: http://www.gzas.nnov.ru/produkt/avia/r11.htm
But I don't get very good the specs, per example, what's the transmission rate?, can you comment on it?[/quote]
Heard rumours about a new "top secret ultra-secure super-cool" laser beam datalink system, with tremendous bitrates, but nothing definite.
The MSPD simply means "Communication and Data Transmission Module" and is actually fairly old. Transmission rate is between 75 and 16000 baud, it has 2 effective MIL-STD channels, 14/4 entry/exit consecutive and 96/16 parallel channels. Its advantage is that it's (relatively) light (10 kg) and small, making installation easier on smaller types of aircraft or helos.
Something similar is being done for the PAK FA by the FGUP "TsKBA" at the moment. "
When I had read that post 2 years back, I thought the guy was talking nonsense, but in light of this USAF research, maybe its not so implausible after all.
Of course - whilst the russians may be good at the physics/math's aspects behind these things - manufacturing it into real hardware is something else. After all, NIIP only succeeded in making a real AESA only in 2009, almost 20 years behind the F-22.