The US Navy has placed an order with Raytheon for developmental efforts in support of the technology development (TD) phase of the next-generation jammer (NGJ) programme.
Under the $279.4m 22-month cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, Raytheon will design and build critical technologies for the NGJ pod, which will replace the aging ALQ-99 tactical jamming system onboard the US Navy’s EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft.
The company will also demonstrate required capabilities and crafting a design, which will be tested onboard the Growler aircraft during the four and half-year engineering and manufacturing development phase.
Developmental efforts also include completion of the system preliminary design and the requirements derivation and decomposition to subsystems.
The NGJ TD phase aims to develop a cost-effective electronic attack system, capable of providing improved airborne electronic attack capabilities against advanced threats through enhanced agility and precision within jamming assignments.
In addition to providing increased interoperability, the electronic attack system offers expanded broadband capabilities for greater threat coverage against a wide variety of radio frequency emitters.
Scheduled to enter service in fiscal 2020, the NGJ will provide increased jamming capabilities to the US troops, needed to sustain the future missions.
The EA-18G Growler aircraft, a replacement for the US Navy’s ageing EA-6B Prowler aircraft is armed with the AIM-120 AMRAAM advanced medium-range air-to-air and AGM-88 HARM high-speed anti-radiation missiles.
Powered by two F414-GE-400 afterburning turbofan engines, the aircraft has 11 weapon stations for accommodating electronic mission systems and weapons to support strike warfare, anti-access/area denial and irregular warfare missions.
Expected to be complete in May 2015, work under the contract will be carried out at the company’s US facilities in California, Indiana, Texas, Utah, Arizona, Virginia, Mississippi and Massachusetts.
The US Naval Air Systems Command will serve as the contracting activity.
Image: A US Navy’s EA-18G aircraft takes off. Photo: file image.
