Avoiding Detection by Hostile Nodes in Airborne Tactical Networks

Abstract

Contemporary airborne radio networks are usually implemented using omnidirectional antennas. Unfortunately, such networks suffer from disadvantages such as easy detection by hostile aircraft and potential information leakage. In this paper, we present a novel mobile ad hoc network (MANET) routing protocol based on directional antennas and situation awareness data that utilizes adaptive multihop routing to avoid sending information in directions where hostile nodes are present. Our protocol is implemented in the OMNEST simulator and evaluated using two realistic flight scenarios involving 8 and 24 aircraft, respectively. The results show that our protocol has significantly fewer leaked packets than comparative protocols, but at a slightly higher cost in terms of longer packet lifetime.