The electronic attack aircraft
community is a tight-knit
group and there’s a lot about the
mission that people don’t understand
CAPT Michael OrrMid-band jammer
CAPT Michael Orr, program manager
for airborne electronic attack systems
(PMA-234), said, ‘Next year [we will] start
delivering di erent versions of pods
[and start] some level of chamber and
ight-testing by mid-2019.’ Orr was an
EA-6B Prowler pilot and interestingly
ew the B-2A Spirit on exchange with
the USAF, which presumably gives him
an excellent grasp of the bene ts of
stealth and electronic warfare. Indeed,
he was the B-2A survivability lead and
wing electronic combat o cer during his
time with the 509th Bomb Wing. ‘ALQ-99
is the mainstay [of the AEA mission] and
will continue even as we eld the Next-
Generation Jammer,’ he explains. ‘The VAQ
[AEA] community is a tight-knit group
and there’s a lot about the mission that
people don’t understand.’ He described
the biggest step-change in the ALQ-249over the ALQ-99 as being, ‘the mechanical
technology [of the old pod] compared
to the digital AESA [active electronically
scanned array] of the NGJ,’ which will
allow the pod to jam more accurately
and quickly.
The challenge for NGJ mid-band has
been the need to produce an immense
amount of power in a pod carried under
the wings of a tactical ghter that will be
required to make years of carrier landings.
The combination of high-powered, agile
beam-jamming techniques and cutting-
edge solid-state electronics gives the navy
an open systems architecture pod that can
be upgraded and recon gured as threats
and requirements evolve.
The huge ram-air turbine in the
ALQ-249 is fed via large air scoops on
the side of the pod. Slocumb admits that
weight ‘was a challenge’. ‘This is a very
dense package,’ he says referring to the
equipment inside the pod, which is alsobeat o competition from Northrop
Grumman, BAE Systems and ITT Exelis
(now part of the Harris Corporation).
Increment 1 of NGJ focuses on the mid-
band jammer, whereas NGJ increment
2 will develop a low-band pod. Naval
Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) issued
a draft statement of objectives on
June 29 for an Increment 2 preliminary
demonstration contract, which will
lead to a formal request for proposals
later this year. Low-band typically
includes early warning radars and voice
communications frequencies. Increment
3 is for the high-band jammer, which
will complete the replacement of the
suite of ALQ-99 capabilities for the US
Navy and Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) Growlers.Above: An artist’s
rendition of an
EA-18G carrying
ALQ-249s under
the wings.
Raytheon
Inset: A cutaway
diagram of the
new pod shows
the AESA radar
antenna and large
side air scoops.
RaytheonINDUSTRY REPORT // NEXT-GENERATION JAMMER
32 October 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net