BAE Systems has been awarded a $54 million contract by the U.S. Navy to design and build Dual Band Decoy (DBD) for the Navy’s fleet of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. This contract, initiated in September last year, has marked a significant milestone for BAE Systems following a competitive protest from Raytheon, which was ultimately disqualified from the competition.
The DBD will be an advanced radio frequency (RF) countermeasure system, aimed at enhancing the survivability of the Super Hornet jets in highly contested airspaces. The system is designed to lure enemy missiles away from the aircraft and disrupt enemy radars that target American jets. The decoy will consist of a towed unit connected by a fiber-optic cable to the electronic warfare equipment onboard the aircraft.
The development of the DBD builds on BAE Systems’ extensive experience with the AN/ALE-55 Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD). The ALE-55, first fielded around 2010, has been a pivotal element in the Navy’s electronic warfare suite, with over 3,000 units produced and deployed globally. The new DBD leverages BAE’s custom integrated circuits, resulting in enhanced performance while reducing size, weight, and power requirements. Don Davidson, director of the Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions product line at BAE Systems, noted, “Dual Band Decoy delivers broad capability that can be installed on a variety of aircraft and is upgradeable to address future threats.”
The U.S. Navy’s pursuit of this advanced decoy system aligns with its broader strategy to improve the survivability of its Super Hornet fleet amidst evolving threats from enemy sensors and weapons. This strategic move includes the development of the Block III Super Hornet design, which features a reduced radar signature. Boeing is actively delivering new Block III jets and upgrading existing Block II jets to the Block III configuration as part of their modernization efforts.
This groundbreaking decoy employs advanced jamming technology to disrupt enemy radars and redirect missiles away from the aircraft. The AN/ALE-55 fiber optic towed decoy operates on a similar principle, effectively jamming signals by emitting a high-powered response from a position off-board the aircraft at the end of a towline. This innovative technology guides missiles away from the aircraft and towards the towed decoy, while also utilizing the aircraft’s onboard electronic warfare system to deploy various countermeasure techniques, such as suppression, deflection, and deception of pulsed and continuous wave RF threats. The DBD can be deployed manually by pilots or automatically in response to detected threats, thus providing a critical layer of protection in hostile environments.
BAE Systems’ statement underscores the initial deployment of the DBD on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which forms a significant part of the Navy’s operational fleet with over 500 units. While specific details regarding the quantity of decoys covered by this contract remain undisclosed, the contract signifies a crucial investment in electronic warfare capabilities.
The advanced jamming technology embodied in the DBD is integral to BAE Systems’ Intrepid Shield strategy. This strategy aims to create a protective barrier around platforms in highly contested battlespaces by utilizing the entire electromagnetic spectrum to detect, exploit, and neutralize advanced threats. The development and implementation of DBD will be conducted at BAE Systems’ facilities in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The decision to award the contract to BAE Systems came after a rigorous selection process and subsequent legal contestation. In 2019, both BAE Systems and Raytheon were tasked with developing and demonstrating their decoy systems. However, Raytheon was disqualified due to the appearance of impropriety stemming from the hiring of a retired Navy technical expert. Despite Raytheon’s protest to the Government Accountability Office and subsequent legal actions, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled against Raytheon, thereby securing BAE Systems’ position as the chosen contractor.
Relevant articles:
– BAE Systems Selected To Develop Dual Band Decoys For U.S. Navy’s Super Hornets , The Aviationist, 05/22/2024
– BAE Systems to build one of most advanced jammers for fighter jets, Inceptive Mind, 05/20/2024
– Navy buys BAE Systems’ Dual Band Decoy to protect Super Hornet jets, C4ISRNET, 05/15/2024
Glad you enjoyed above story, be sure to follow TrendyDigests on Microsoft Start.