
An F-15E of the 492nd Fighter Squadron dropping a GBU-28 ‘bunker buster'. The EPAWSS retrofits purchased under the full-rate contract will allow the F-15E a greater ability to penetrate enemy air defences. (US Air Force)
The US Air Force awarded Boeing a USD615.7 million contract for full-rate production of the AN/ALQ-250(V)1 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) electronic countermeasures suite on 6 January, paving the way for wide-scale deployment aboard Boeing F-15E/EXs. EPAWSS is produced by BAE Systems as a subcontractor to Boeing.
The contract purchases 45 EPAWSS kits for retrofit aboard in-service F-15E Strike Eagles, Boeing told Janes on 9 January. EPAWSS kits purchased under the contract are already arriving at Boeing facilities.
EPAWSS “scans the radio frequency environment and provides the aircrew with identification and location information of potential threat signals”, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). The system then selects a countermeasure response – although EPAWSS is integrated with the AN/ALE-47 chaff and flare dispenser system, its main countermeasure is a host of new jamming capabilities.
The system can detect threats across a wide band of electronic spectrum from a 360° radius and provides a publicly unknown degree of offensive jamming capabilities, notably demonstrated in 2021 during Large Force Test Event 20.3, when four EPAWSS-equipped F-15Es jammed simulated threats while escorting an F-35 to its target.
EPAWSS is intended to replace the F-15E's Tactical Electronic Warfare Suite (TEWS), which comprises the AN/ALR-56C Radar Warning Receiver, the AN/ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures Set, and the AN/ALE-45 Countermeasures Dispenser Set. The electronic technology behind TEWS dates from the 1980s.
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