Defense Technology International - October 2007 - (Page 44) ATTACK ELECTRONIC and a Mach 0.86 speed limit. The core goal for NGAEA is to get “more beams on target per aircraft,” according to a 2006 briefing from the O ce of Naval Research, which is supporting the project. (Other participants include the EA6B program o ce, PMA-234, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane, which is the Navy’s EW center.) The goal of more beams on target will be achieved in several ways, but an important change will be the use of phased-array antennas that control the beam’s field of regard and steer it instantly in azimuth and elevation, making it possible to hold the beam accurately on target when the aircraft maneuvers. Increased agility and pointing accuracy, in turn, allow use of a narrow, intense beam. Research is also driving toward a system with fewer wide-bandwidth arrays, based on new technologies such as wide-bandgap semiconductors. Like the ALQ-99, the new pod will probably be based on a standard structure, power and cooling system, and will carry one or more of a selection of antennas to address di erent-threat wavebands. One configuration in a PMA-234 presentation shows 180-deg. high-band pods on the wing stations and a 360-deg. low-band pod in the centerline. Like the ALQ-99, the new pod is likely to be selfpowered via a ram-air turbine, but most concepts show an internal system rather than the nose-mounted windmill turbine on the ALQ-99. The Navy issued a Broad Area Announcement in March covering the NGAEA program, with responses due by the end of July. The Navy expects to award contracts to multiple teams in early 2008, and to support several contractors or teams through a five-year technology research program. The NGAEA project will start with trade studies, continue with the development of high-band technology and conclude with efforts to improve low-band jamming. I The EA-6B Prowler may continue to fly for U.S. Marine Corps squadrons beyond 2020. 44 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2007 www.aviationweek.com/dti U.S. NAVY PHOTOS more over-the-beach” than the EA-6B, Overstreet says. The Growler will carry Amraam missiles, but lacks the Super Hornet’s ALR-67(V)3 radar-warning receiver and jamming system. The Navy expects to add defensive features to the ALQ-218(V)2. The biggest planned improvement, however, is replacement of the handme-down ALQ-99 jamming pod. The goal is a Next-Generation Jammer, to be fielded after 2015. Foundations for the The EA-18G Growler prototype undergoes tests of its interference cancellation system. technology will be laid in 2008, under the NGAEA program. The ALQ-99 has been upgraded over the years but still represents older technology, and the Navy expects that it will fall short in e ectiveness against doubledigit threats and in complex environments. The pod has reliability issues http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
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