One Pod Fits All

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

The Air Force will be necking down from two self-protection jammer pods for its combat aircraft to one, according to Col. Joseph Skaja, Air Combat Command’s electronic warfare requirements chief. Speaking Thursday in Washington, D.C., at the Lexington Institute’s electronic attack symposium, Skaja said the service has “over 1200” of these two pods “in the field.” The reason for so many is because they have a short mean time between failure, he said. The service aims to pick one pod—either Northrop Grumman’s AN/ALQ-131 or Raytheon’s AN/ALQ-184—to modernize, hoping for greater reliability that will allow retirement of the other system, he said. A single pod “drastically simplifies maintenance and saves dollars for other EW programs,” he said. A solicitation went out to industry a few weeks ago, Skaja told the Daily Report. The Air Force expects to make a choice this fall. Another new tactical capability will be the Counter-Communications EA pod, meant for irregular warfare, and destined first for the MQ-9 Reaper. Service officials are still developing the pod’s requirements. Also, the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Jammer Increment II system is in the planning phase; it will “enhance the capability of the jammer 10-fold,” said Skaja.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org