Naomi Cooper
An all-digital electronic warfare suite developed by L3Harris Technologies for F-16 fighter jets is set to conclude its third interoperability test in December in preparation for its production in the fourth quarter of 2025, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
L3Harris is on track to complete the third “drop” milestone for Viper Shield, which will be installed in the Lockheed Martin-made block 70/72 F-16s for foreign military sales customers, according to Anna Gragossian, a general manager at L3Harris overseeing business development for international electronic warfare.
During the third drop, the new EW suite will use production representative hardware to demonstrate an initial radar warning receiver capability.
Gragossian said Viper Shield will enable F-16 pilots to increase situational awareness, use self-protection measures and jam radar signals from adversarial systems.
In March 2021, L3Harris secured a contract from Lockheed Martin to develop the advanced EW system to protect the global F-16 fleet from emerging radar and electronic threats.
