The United States Air Force (USAF) selected Northrop Grumman to complete final design efforts to provide the electronic warfare suite for its fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters. This critical capability will protect pilots from the growing threat of radar-guided weapons by detecting, identifying and defeating advanced threat systems.
The contract was issued under the Other Transactions Agreement (OTA) of the Air Force Open System Acquisition Initiative (OSAI) of the SOSSEC Consortium for prototyping. Northrop Grumman will continue to work in partnership with other non-traditional defense companies to execute this project.
“The electronic warfare package will significantly increase protection for F-16 pilots as they execute their missions in increasingly contested environments”, said Ryan Tintner, vice president of navigation, targeting and survivability for Northrop Grumman. “This system draws on the best of our experience with multiple programs to create an effective and affordable solution for keeping the F-16 relevant throughout its lifespan.”
The system provides full-spectrum radar alerting, threat identification and advanced countermeasures capabilities. He also proved pulse-to-pulse operability with the F-83's newly acquired AESA AN/APG-16 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), also developed by Northrop Grumman.
The electronic warfare suite leverages open systems and ultra-wideband architecture, providing the increased instantaneous bandwidth needed to defeat modern threats.
This system is part of a product line of electronic warfare capabilities that can be tailored to protect virtually any platform or mission requirement, sharing a common technology foundation with the Radio Frequency Countermeasures Program for the AC/MC-130J and receivers. of AN/APR-39 radar alert.
The configuration of the Electronic Warfare Package is scalable to meet the operational needs of both the US and its international partners, in an internal or t configuration.
