The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $580-million follow-on production contract for the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system.
This covers the additional production of NGJ-MB pod shipsets, including pods for the Royal Australian Air Force, spares, and support equipment through 2028.
A near-identical $590-million follow-on production contract was awarded to Raytheon in December for continued work.
“Offensive Electronic Attack provides a tremendous combat capability, protecting strike packages, kinetic weapons and high-value airborne assets across a broad range of missions,” President of Naval Power at Raytheon, Barbara Borgonovi, said.
“With this contract, we’ll ensure that our naval aviators in all theaters are better prepared to counter adversary threats and support the Joint Fight.”
Next-Gen Jammer Mid-Band
The NGJ-MB replaces the 50-year-old analog ALQ-99 jammer mounted on the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft operated by the US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.
A cooperative development program with the Royal Australian Air Force, the electronic attack system consists of two pods with multiple active electronically scanned arrays that deny and distract adversaries’ radars from 2 GHz to 6 GHz of the threat spectrum.
Additional threats to the capability target include communications and data links.
The NGJ-MB acquired initial operational capability in December and was deployed for the first time in 2024 against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
