The Pod That Protects Pilots

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Next generation jammer mid-band will be ready for initial operating capability in 2022. Our adversaries are making progress in electronic warfare.

According to the 2018 report from the National Defense Strategy Commission, Russia and China’s focus on “acquiring capabilities to overcome America’s technological edge and operational reach” has eroded America’s military advantage in a number of areas, including electronic warfare.

Raytheon’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band, or NGJ MB, will be used on the EA-18G Growler in 2022; one way the U.S. Navy will address those new threats.

“The pod [is being put] through the ringer. We’re building developmental hardware for testing now,” said Ernest Winston, senior manager, Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “Our technical knowledge and build strategy—which at its core was based on risk reduction—has been essential as we work through the development phase.”

Because of NGJ-MB’s increased jamming capabilities, the EA-18G Growler can operate in more optimum locations to support both strike aircraft and weapons.

With the pod onboard, Growler pilots can rapidly identify and defeat hostile actors in highly contested electromagnetic spectrum environments. Its lynchpin is its active electronically scanned arrays, or AESAs, which radiate high power-jamming energy to turn out the enemy's lights.

“(NGJ Mid-Band) is a powerhouse,” said Raytheon's Dan Theisen, director of Airborne Electronic Attack, adding that the NGJ Mid-Band jamming system has increased capacity and power over the current system.

NGJ MB uses agile AESA antenna technology and an all-digital back end. It also has digital and software-based tech embedded in the design, which increases the ability to jam and allows for rapid beam steering and advanced jammer modulation.

As for the future, NGJ MB's open systems architecture allows the system’s hardware and software to be upgraded quickly. A flexible design is crucial to match and defeat evolving sensing and jamming technologies in the electromagnetic spectrum. It can also house other offensive and defensive technologies to keep pilots safe.

Additionally, field modification kits can enable a variety of missions for NGJ, including communications and information operations. It could also be used on other tactical and wide-body platforms, according to Stefan Baur, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems

“Raytheon’s pod is basically a payload truck,” he said.

NGJ Mid-Band is built with a combination of high-powered, agile beam-jamming techniques and cutting-edge solid-state electronics.