US Navy and RAAF fleet maintainers work on NGJ-MB pod during a recent logistics demonstration held at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Kristine Wilcox.

Sailors from the US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airmen have taken part in a training event with AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) pods.

The six-week exercise was conducted during February and March at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, US.

It marks the first training event that saw the involvement of RAAF cooperative partners, and the second logistics demonstration for the Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) Systems Programme Office (PMA-234).

A team of five US Navy sailors and two RAAF airmen worked in collaboration to perform critical maintenance operations on the NGJ-MB pods.

During the event, participants removed and reinstalled 60 different components of the jamming pod, including pumps, actuators, and array.

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PMA-234 NGJ-MB Program programme manager captain David Rueter said: “It was great to have our RAAF airmen join us for this event.

“Not only was it the first time the maintainers had access to the Mid-Band pods, but also the first time they worked together as a team, and it was seamless.”

According to the PMA-234 supportability test and evaluation lead Danielle Raffa, the exercise allows the participants to identify and address deficiencies before the final version of the jamming pod is delivered to the fleet.

Developed by Raytheon Intelligence and Space (RI&S), the NGJ-MB pods will be used on the EA-18G Growler aircraft, replacing the existing ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System.

NGJ-MB pod uses software-based, digital and Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technologies to deny, disrupt and degrade enemy’s ground-based communication system and air defence.

RI&S was recently awarded a contract to Triumph to produce actuators and control system for the NGJ-MB pods.