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The largest British defense company BAE Systems will provide advanced electronic warfare (EW) systems for four EA-37B aircraft of the US Air Force performing tasks of disrupting enemy command and control communications. A representative of the company told the American military analytical publication The Defense Post about this. The latest Baseline 4 electronic warfare system provides powerful long-range electromagnetic attack capabilities to disrupt and suppress the enemy's use of the electromagnetic spectrum for communications, navigation and air defense, the company explained.
Currently, the US Air Force has 14 so-called electronic attack aircraft EC-130H Compass Call, created on the basis of Lockheed C-130 Hercules. These aircraft are the only platform for creating long-range electromagnetic interference, said a representative of BAE Systems. In the near future, ten of them will be replaced by upgraded EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft, the first of which entered the US Air Force in September last year.
The improved electronic warfare system will allow you to perform more complex missions by increasing speed, altitude, endurance and survivability. In addition, the company redesigned the equipment to install a transverse deck on the smaller EA-37B airframe.
— Dwayne Beaulieu, technical director of BAE Systems Compass Call, told the publication.
Compass Call's mission is to counter enemy command and control, computing, communications, combat systems, and reconnaissance, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (C5ISRT) capabilities. In the future, these electronic warfare systems will continue to be upgraded to improve C5ISRT counteraction operations. To this end, the British system manufacturer uses software-defined radios and an open architecture to quickly implement new capabilities to counter emerging threats, said a representative of BAE Systems.
EC-130H Compass Call jamming aircraft have been in service with the US Air Force since the early eighties and are actively used in various operations around the world. However, the basic platform in the form of the C-130 has now become outdated, and the target electronic equipment no longer fully meets current requirements. The main contractor for the development of the latest EA-37B electronic warfare aircraft based on the Gulfstream G550 business jet in 2017 was the American military industrial company L3Harris Technologies.
In turn, British BAE Systems acts as a subcontractor and is responsible for the development and manufacture of interference equipment in a wide range of ranges. The production of Compass Call on-board electromagnetic attack control systems is localized at the BAE Systems plant in Hudson, New Hampshire.