RAAF Growlers get $2bn for jammer upgrades to run better interference
06 Feb 2023 Julian Bajkowski
"The Albanese government has hit the afterburners on Australia’s airborne electronic warfare capability, revealing the Australian Defence Force’s standout radar-systems developer CEA Technologies will upgrade Australia’s EA-18G Growler to the most current US capabilities as part of the $6 billion Project AIR 5349 Phase 6 project.
The selection of the local firm to help perform the upgrades squares away the well-anticipated capability boost and reaffirms a broader focus on keeping Australia’s air power as sharp as possible as part of a wider quick readiness posture that allows cooperation with other airforces, particularly the US Air Force.
Currently approved funding for AIR 5349 Phase 6 sits at around $2 billion, with CEA’s cut coming in at $277 million....
...Jamming aircraft are primarily used to interfere with and deny an adversary’s ability to get guided missiles away by making electromagnetic and radio frequency soup out of signals and communications used for targeting, guidance and communications.
The aircraft work by carrying pods that contain electrical generators (often assisted by small propellers to help the generators spin) that produce enough interference to swamp enemy systems. A typical scenario is jamming, and electronic warfare aircraft are sent in ahead of, or with, bombers or other strike aircraft tasked with eliminating targets.
They also have non-lethal uses, including the denial of communications, that can impair an adversary or prevent an effective attack from being launched....
...According to Defence, the list of upgrades coming to Australia’s Growlers includes a “Next-Generation Jammer weapon system” to replace the ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System; sensor upgrades; anti-radiation missile war stock; and new longer-range and more advanced anti-radiation missiles.
Upgrades to the electronic warfare training ranges and facility upgrades at Queensland’s Amberley base and the Delamere Air Training Area near Katherine in the Northern Territory are also part of the deal."
