Sebastien Roblin
Security,
We Now know America's scheme ought thrash Russia or China's stand Defenses
As radars and radar-guided antiaircraft missiles abide ought bring at mount and sophistication, jamming and other forms of electric campaign will remain basic means during stand energy ought survive above the campaign spaces of the future. The Next Generation Jammer is the Pentagon’s attempt ought counter new advances at air-defense radars—while adding ought its sack of electric tricks.
U.S. warplanes flying above Syria today discover themselves operating within the mount of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles. still the U.S. military is unlikely ought intentionally assault Russian army at Syria, the status highlights the importance of suppressing competitor stand defenses—one leading tactic U.S. flyers dine absence relied upon is radar jamming, or saturating competitor radars with “noise” and artificial signals consequently that they can’t pursue and release upon class airplanes. The U.S. fleet has relied above the ALQ-99 jamming system during almost half a century, even though opposing radars grew at ability. However, by the beginning of the next decade it will begin fielding the superior Next Generation Jammer, boasting significant electronic-attack and signal-intelligence capabilities.
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The powerful ALQ-99 tactical jamming pod first entered U.S. fleet service at 1971, carried by the EA-6 Prowler, an electronic-warfare variant of the A-6 Intruder carrier-based assault airplane with a four-man crew. The U.S. stand compel eventually supplemented the Prowler with faster and larger EF-111 Ravens, informally known though Spark Varks because of the intense static buildup their jammers generated. Both planes proved effective at suppressing stand defenses at Iraq and Libya. However, the Raven was withdrawn from service early at 1998, though the imminent retirement of the F-111 fleet made it prohibitively dear ought operate. Seventeen years later, the Navy retired its aging EA-6s in favor of new EA-18G Growlers—special electronic-warfare variants of the F-18 Super Hornet. The two-seat Growlers are much faster and improve armed, except make ought confide above automation ought create up during the reduction at crew size.
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The Marine Corps will abide ought escape its Prowlers until retirement at 2019, leaving the Growler though the only remaining tactical jammer. Overall, absence during jamming aeroplane has remained tall even though the quantity has diminished. The jammers dine even proven useful at the campaign against ISIS by scrambling ISIS communications and disabling roadside bombs.
Jamming, however, is no a panacea against competitor radars—it sharply degrades their effective mount except does no neutralize them entirely, and jamming aeroplane dine ought exist careful no ought win also near ought the defenses they are scrambling. Furthermore, still the analog-based ALQ-99 has plentiful power, new radars brag greater energy though well, and are more able of switching frequencies and networking with class sensors ought conquer the effects of jamming.
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Enter the Next Generation Jammer program, the first documents during which were released by the Pentagon at 2004, with the target of bringing jamming into the digital age. The NGJ had originally been envisioned though an automated pod during apply above single-seat F-35 Lightning stealth fighters, which used to serve at complete three branches of the military. However, this sentiment proved much more dear and time-consuming than expected—which could summarize exist the F-35 program at a nutshell. Instead, the Pentagon eventually decided ought concentrate above re-equipping the fleet Growlers with the new jamming system, and at 2013 chose the create proposed by Raytheon above three leading competitors.
The NGJ is designed ought career against a complete spectrum of radars, except different radars will absence different countermeasures, which Raytheon is developing above a staggered schedule. The upcoming Increment 1 pods are designed ought jam mid-band campaign radars commonly used by ground-based surface-to-air missiles, which pose the greatest danger ought U.S. aeroplane today. Once available, the EA-18 will spend two of the mid-band pods—one under each wing.
However, the Growler will conserve a only fuselage-mounted ALQ-99 pod optimized during jamming low-band radars until the Increment 2 NGJ pod is ready farther into the 2020s. Low-band or surveillance radars dine a broader scanning area, and are effective at tracking competitor aircraft—even stealth fighters!—but are also imprecise during targeting weapons. Nonetheless, surveillance radars assist the more narrowly focused campaign radars know where ought display during enemies, and a forewarned campaign radar can ambush a stealth fighter at short range. Thus, though the quantity of stealth aeroplane swells with the product of the F-35, jamming low-band radars will become more and more important.
Eventually, Raytheon also plans ought age an Increment 3 system during jamming high-band campaign radars, which are habitual above fighter planes.
The fifteen-foot NGJ pods hire an active Electronically Scanned Array radar with gallium nitride components that increase radio energy. Program manager Capt. John Bailey claimed at a seminar that the NGJ can generate ten era the radiated isotropic energy even of the preceding ALQ-99, and that the symbol is “cleaner,” minimizing the collateral interference with class signals. impartial though importantly, the NGJ can jam multiple frequencies—Captain Bailey claims four era though many—and is designed ought exist an “agile” jammer, able of analyzing new competitor signals and adjusting its own frequencies ought counter them literally above the fly. Moreover, though the NGJ is a digital solid-state open-architecture system, it can exist upgraded with new “threat libraries” of hostile hardware, allowing it ought exist easily—and cheaply—upgraded ought contest new adversary capabilities. Finally, the NGJ pods can conduct complete of this without draining energy from the Growler carrying it, owing ought its ram stand turbine.
The jamming pods also reportedly become with additional bells and whistles, most notably the capacity ought spy above competitor communications. This used to apparently permit the Growler ought serve though a latent Signals intellect (SIGINT) platform, either though enable it ought double though a traffic hub. The NGJ also reportedly comes with cyber-attack abilities ought perform a “network invasion” by inserting data packets into adversary systems, a technique that has been demonstrated by an stand compel EC-130.
Since being approved ought age the NGJ, the NGJ development process has proven relatively fast and efficient. However, a Department of Testing report notes that the NGJ has silent ought exist tested at operational conditions and that the pods’ effects above the EA-18 flight constitution are unclear. The illustrate also expresses affair that the NGH pods can humiliate the constitution of the Growler’s ALQ-218 receiver, reduce mount and pose an electromagnetic venture ought the fighter’s AGM-88 antiradar missiles.
The NGJ Increment 1 jammers are intended ought dine initial operating capacity almost 2021. The Pentagon has already allocated $1 billion during this first batch, with few more billions responsible ought pursue above time. Australia, meanwhile, has invested $192 million into the program, and intends ought eventually adjust them above its twelve new Growlers, which will finish delivery afterward this year.
Eventually, the Pentagon intends ought revisit developing a NGJ pod specially during the F-35—but that will responsible wait until the late 2020s at the earliest. at the meantime, there is lesson of proper the NGJ to the Navy UCLASS drone ought amplify the quantity of available jamming platforms.
As radars and radar-guided antiaircraft missiles abide ought bring at mount and sophistication, jamming and other forms of electric campaign will remain basic means during stand energy ought survive above the campaign spaces of the future. The Next Generation Jammer is the Pentagon’s attempt ought counter new advances at air-defense radars—while adding ought its sack of electric tricks.
Sébastien Roblin holds a master’s type at shock decision from Georgetown college and served though a college instructor during the Peace Corps at China. He has also worked at education, editing and refugee resettlement at France and the United States. He currently writes above security and military history for War Is Boring.
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