Regina Garcia
BAE Systems has completed the design, testing and delivery of key components of the inaugural EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare system of the U.S. Air Force.
Following the final hardware delivery, the aircraft is now ready for Baseline 3 configuration testing to check its additional warfare capabilities. The testing is scheduled to commence by January 2023, followed by the aircraft’s interim fielding in mid-2024, BAE said Wednesday.
The new aircraft, tasked with disrupting enemy command and control communications, radar and navigation, is meant to provide electronic attack capabilities for the U.S. Air Force. It is based on the Gulfstream G550 commercial business jet.
In addition, BAE tested three third-party applications on the electronic warfare aircraft’s Small Adaptive Bank of Electronic Resources technology. This will allow for the rapid integration of emerging technology via software updates.
In July 2018, BAE announced that it will redesign its Compass Call aircraft to the EC-37B aircraft model from the EC-130H under the Air Force’s Cross Deck initiative. The company worked closely with L3 Technologies for the initial design review of the electronic warfare aircraft.
