Jane Edwards
Australia will make a potential $191.6 million investment to develop a new radio jammer and radar system for the country’s Boeing-built EA-18G Growler aircraft.
Sen. Marise Payne, Australia’s defense minister, said in a statement released Wednesday the country will partner with the U.S. Navy to perform development work on the next-generation radio jamming platform.
Payne announced the arrival of the country’s first Growlers at Avalon 2017’s Australian International Airshow.
Leo Davies, air marshal and chief of the Royal Australian Air Force, said the Growlers will work to transmit intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information with the Australian army, navy and other aircraft as part of the networked force.
Australia has placed an order for 12 Growler planes and expects to receive deliveries at its Queensland-based air base by mid-2017.
The Growler is a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet and has Advanced Electronically Scanned Array radar, air-to-air missiles, digital datalinks and tactical jamming platforms that work against hostile air defenses.
