[Ford Fairlane]

If they are transmitting real time data from the cockpit wouldnt they be defeating the purpose of the stealth technology? Anyone listening could detect the transmission & locate the aircaft's position.

[general_re]

Frequency hopping springs to mind. The plane and the ground station (satellite in this case) are coordinated in such a way that they constantly switch the frequencies where they communicate, minimizing such a possibility. Combine that with spread-spectrum transmissions, where the communications are broken up into pieces and each piece is sent simultaneously on its own frequency, and you can also do it in bursts with a fairly low-power signal.

[PatriotGames]

Comminicating with a satellite means microwave transmissions from a small dish, which is line of sight only.......from the aircraft directly up to the satellite. Little signal, if any, gets propagated and therefore cannot be detected unless the enemy satellite is VERY close to the satellite with which the aircraft is communicating.