Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, is awarded a $650,433,839 fixed-price incentive (firm target) and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the production and delivery of low rate initial production (LRIP) Lot III Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) Mid-Band (MB), to include 15 NGJ-MB LRIP ship sets (2 pods per ship set), 11 for the Navy and four for the government of Australia, as well as to provide associated spares, support equipment, non-recurring engineering and associated data. Work is expected to be completed in April 2024. Fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $461,655,033; fiscal 2022 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,352,655; and foreign cooperative project funds in the amount of $182,426,151 will be obligated at the time of award. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Next Generation Jammer is an evolutionary acquisition program providing capability in three increments: Mid-Band, Low Band and High Band. NGJ-MB is currently undergoing ground and flight test. The capability will address advanced and emerging threats in the middle frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. The NGJ-MB program is a joint program cooperation between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Australian Ministry of Defence. Initial Operational Capability is scheduled for fall 2023. The AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system is part of a larger NGJ system that will augment, and ultimately replace the legacy ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) currently used on the EA-18G Growler aircraft for Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA).
The NGJ System is the next step in the evolution of Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) and is needed to meet current and emerging Electronic Warfare gaps, ensure kill chain wholeness against growing threat capabilities and capacity, and to keep pace with threat weapons systems advances and continuous expansion of the AEA mission area. Next Generation Jammer, an external jamming pod system, will address advanced and emerging threats alike, as well as the growing numbers of threats. The system consists of one shipset of pods, as well as small hardware and software modifications to the EA-18G Growler aircraft to enable carriage, communication and employment. NGJ-MB uses the latest digital, software-based and Active Electronically Scanned Array technologies and will provide enhanced airborne electronic attack capabilities to disrupt and degrade enemy air defense and ground communication systems.
