From Flight Global

 

DATE: 12/04/10

SOURCE: Flight International

 

USAF may convert some F-15Cs to radar jammers

By Stephen Trimble

 

The US Air National Guard may convert some Boeing F-15C Eagles into electronic warfare platforms, possibly adding an entirely new role for the classic air superiority fighter.

 

Adding a jamming pod on the F-15C's currently empty centreline weapon station becomes possible after a subset of the fleet is upgraded with the Raytheon APG-63(V)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, says Maj Todd Giggy, chief of weapons and tactics for the 159th Fighter Sqd.

 

"We're actively looking right now at an electronic warfare capability," Giggy says.

 

The first AESA-equipped F-15C rolled out for the 159th Sqd on 12 April at Jacksonville, Florida, the first of three ANG bases to receive 48 "Golden Eagles".

 

USAF officials eventually hope to upgrade with AESA all 176 F-15Cs planned to remain in-service through 2030, but only the first 48 aircraft are funded.

 

As a replacement for the APG-70 mechanically scanned array, the AESA boosts the range and detection capability for the F-15.

 

Ramon Estrada, Raytheon's director of F-15 growth programmes, declined to answer whether the APG-63(V)3 can detect Russia's stealthy new PAK-FA prototype fighter, which Sukhoi designates as the T-50.

 

But Estrada confirmed the AESA is designed to detect targets with small radar cross sections. "I don't know the specifics with the T-50," Estrada says, "but I will tell you that this -(V)3 radar is very capable of detecting low-RCS platforms".

 

The array also improves the F-15's ability to track radar signals, which could prove useful in the jamming role.

 

Giggy, however, emphasized that an F-15C equipped with a jamming pod would not become a rival to the US Navy Boeing EA-18G Growler. "I want to dispel the idea that we're looking at an F-15G," Giggy says.

 

The EA-18G comes with a wide-spectrum and relatively longer-range jamming system, which includes an ALQ-218 receiver system and ALQ-99 jamming pods.

 

The F-15C would instead have a more limited jamming pod optimized for short-range threats, Giggy says.

 

The ANG discussions about an electronic warfare role for the F-15C comes after the USAF has twice abandoned attempts to convert the B-52 into a standoff jamming platform.

 

USAF officials have instead decided to focus on the stand-in jamming role, employing the Raytheon miniature air-launched decoy-jammer (MALD-J), upgrades to the EC-130 Compass Call fleet and, possibly, upgraded F-15Cs.

 

The USAF has lacked a dedicated platform for jamming radars since 1997, when the EF-111 Raven fleet was retired without a replacement. In 2002, the USAF unveiled an airborne electronic attack system of systems plan, which included the B-52 stand-off jammer, MALD-J and the Boeing X-45C. Only the MALD-J programme survived budget cuts, however.

 

Meanwhile, the US Navy is replacing Grumman EA-6B Prowlers with the EA-18G fleet.

From Aviation Week's Ares Blog

 

Upgraded F-15Cs to protect F-22s

Posted by David A. Fulghum at 4/14/2010 9:07 AM CDT

 

F-22 stealth fighter production is capped, so USAF officials are upgrading their best F-15C with advanced, long-range radars to beef up the air dominance force.

 

Because of the larger size of the F-15s radar and the aircraft’s greater flight endurance, they also will serve as “stand-in” electronic warfare jamming and attack aircraft as part of the Air Force’s composite air dominance force that also includes stealthy F-22s stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

 

Each fighter type will shoulder 50% of the air dominance mission now that the F-22 force has been capped at 187 aircraft. The upgraded F-15Cs will carry the larger APG-63(V)3 active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. The radar's long range and small target detection capability will allow F-22s to operate in electronic silence with their low observability uncompromised by electronic emissions.

 

The first F-15C modified with the Raytheon radar was declared operational with the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing last week.

 

“Our objective is to fly in front [of any strike force] with the F-22s, and have the persistence [because of larger fuel loads] to stay there while the [stealthy fighters] are conducting their LO attack,” says Maj. Todd Giggy, the wing’s chief of weapons and tactics. Giggy was formerly with the chief of weapons and tactics for the 1st Air Dominance Wing at Langley. “That persistence is something we can add that no one else can in the air dominance world.”

 

The Florida, Louisiana and Oregon ANG will field the first 48 V3 radar-equipped F-15Cs. Massachusetts and Montana ANG units will follow so that the East, West and Gulf coasts have a cruise missile defense capability.

 

“We’re embracing an air-launched concept for theater ballistic missile defense as a deterrent and as a tactical capability to protect our forces in theater and for homeland defense,” Giggy says.

 

One of the missiles in consideration for the theater ballistic missile mission is Raytheon’s NCADE variant of the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

 

“We’re talking to the ANG about a demonstration of an air-launched, hit-to-kill system, says Ramon Estrada, Raytheon’s F-15 AESA program manager. “It takes the AMRAAM body and extends the range to support a ballistic missile mission.” The AIM-120C-6 and AIM-120D AMRAAM models were optimized in part to attack small-signature cruise missiles.

 

The Air Force will deliver up to six AESA radars this summer for installation on F-15Cs at the Weapons School and 442 Sgdn. at Nellis AFB, Nev. The fleet will eventually grow to 176 Golden Eagles that are slated to serve until 2030.

 

The F-15Cs also will provide electronic jamming and attack capability, self-protect the force against enemy missiles and aircraft, shoot their beyond visual range missiles to supplement limited numbers carried by the F-22s and use the radar to create situational awareness for everyone else.

 

“Weapons effects are the priority, and we are carrying so few weapons that BVR fighting is going to be distributed among all the platforms out there,” Giggy says. “So we distribute the targets and weapons management.”

 

The F-15C’s electronic surveillance capability also can identify and precisely locate electronic emitters – communications and radars in the air and on the ground – to direct the attacks of other aircraft carrying conventional missiles or non-kinetic, electronic or cyber weapons. Examples of the latter are Raytheon’s Miniature Air Launched Decoy – Jammer (Mald-J) and the CHAMP high power microwave (HPM) generator for cruise missiles being developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

 

There are also more modifications to come, say aerospace industry officials.

 

“The simple answer is yes,” says Jim Means, Boeing’s director of proprietary programs for global strike systems. “We are looking in all the right places for the future and that includes the radar and modification to the [AESA] antenna.”

 

The APG-82(V)4 radar and a new radome planned for the Air Force’s fleet of about 220 F-15Es “we may retrofit to the F-15Cs,” Means says. “There’s also a new computer, a larger cockpit display and enhanced bandwidth datalinks that can send more data to other aircraft faster.”

 

“Our goal is to break the [enemy’s] kill chain,” Giggy says. “The AESA is a critical component. We can’t stand-in against the current threats unless we can build that [electronic and radar] picture of the battlefield. The V3 allows us to pick and chose where we can go to deliver the [weapons’] effect. And some of those EW and non-kinetic warfare effects are very important.”

 

But they are expected to be only a few of the upgrades considered through the end of the F-15C’s operational life in 2030.

 

“With the capability gap that the Air Force is trying to address through the air dominance category with the F-15C, we looked at a lot technologies,” says Robert Martin, a Boeing business development official for the F-15 program.” The Air Force is going to look across platforms for effects to enhance warfighter capability.”

 

Technologies already in consideration include advanced processing, electronic warfare, multi-spectral sensors, high volume, low probability of intercept datalinks and interoperability with unmanned platforms, he says.

From Aviation Week

 

USAF Non-Stealthy Fighters To Support F-22s

Apr 29, 2010

By David A. Fulghum

Washington

 

With the size of the F-22 stealth fighter force capped, U.S. Air Force officials are going to muscle up the service’s air dominance force via Air National Guard F-15C Golden Eagles upgraded with advanced, long-range radars.

 

Because of the larger size of the Boeing F-15s’ radar and the aircraft’s greater flight endurance, they also will serve as “stand-in” electronic warfare jamming and attack aircraft as part of the Air Force’s composite air dominance force that also includes stealthy Lockheed Martin F-22s stationed at Langley AFB, Va.

 

Each fighter type will shoulder 50% of the air dominance mission now that the F-22 force has been capped at 187 aircraft. The upgraded F-15Cs will carry the larger APG-63(V)3 active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. The radar’s long range and small-target-detection capability will allow F-22s to operate in electronic silence with its low observability (LO) uncompromised by electronic emissions.

 

The first F-15C to be modified with the Raytheon radar was recently declared operational with the Florida Air National Guard’s (ANG) 125th Fighter Wing.

 

“Our objective is to fly in front [of any strike force] with the F-22s, and have the persistence [because of larger fuel loads] to stay there while the [stealthy fighters] are conducting their LO attack,” says Maj. Todd Giggy, the wing’s chief of weapons and tactics. Giggy was formerly with the chief of weapons and tactics for the 1st Air Dominance Wing at Langley AFB. “That persistence is something we can add that no one else can in the air dominance world.”

 

The Florida, Louisiana and Oregon ANG will field the first 48 V3 radar-equipped F-15Cs. Massachusetts and Montana ANG units will follow, ensuring that the East, West and Gulf coasts have a cruise missile defense capability.

 

“We’re embracing an air-launched concept for theater ballistic missile defense as a deterrent and as a tactical capability to protect our forces in-theater and for homeland defense,” Giggy says.

 

One of the missiles in consideration for the theater ballistic missile mission is Raytheon’s network-centric airborne defense element (NCADE) variant of the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (Amraam).

 

“We’re talking to the ANG about a demonstration of an air-launched, hit-to-kill system, says Ramon Estrada, Raytheon’s F-15 AESA program manager. “It takes the Amraam body and extends the range to support a ballistic missile mission.” The AIM-120C-6 and AIM-120D Amraam models were optimized in part to attack small-signature cruise missiles.

 

The Air Force will deliver up to six AESA radars this summer for installation on F-15Cs at the Weapons School and 442 Sqdn. at Nellis AFB, Nev. The fleet will eventually grow to 176 Golden Eagles that are slated to serve until 2030.

 

The F-15Cs also will provide electronic jamming and attack capability to self-protect the force against enemy missiles and aircraft, shoot their beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles to supplement limited numbers carried by the F-22s, and use the radar to create situational awareness for everyone else.

 

“Weapons effects are the priority, and we are carrying so few weapons that BVR fighting is going to be distributed among all the platforms out there,” Giggy says. “So we distribute the targets and weapons management.”

 

The F-15C’s electronic surveillance capability also can identify and precisely locate electronic emitters—communications and radars in the air and on the ground—to direct the attacks of other aircraft carrying conventional missiles or non-kinetic, electronic or cyber-weapons. Examples of the latter are Raytheon’s Miniature Air Launched Decoy-Jammer (Mald-J) and the Counter-Electronics High-Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (Champ) high-power microwave (HPM) generator for cruise missiles being developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

 

There are also more modifications to come, say aerospace industry officials.

 

“The simple answer is yes,” says Jim Means, Boeing’s director of proprietary programs for global strike systems. “We are looking in all the right places for the future and that includes the radar and modification to the [AESA] antenna.”

 

The APG-82(V)4 radar and a new radome planned for the Air Force’s fleet of about 220 F-15Es “we may retrofit to the F-15Cs,” Means says. “There’s also a new computer, a larger cockpit display and enhanced bandwidth data links that can send more data to other aircraft faster.”

 

Current AESA antennas have a limited field-of-view and frequency range. Both need to be increased. Moreover, with the right software upgrades, the F-15’s AESA will be able to form data streams, back them with algorithms that can exploit or damage enemy electronics and beam that package into an antenna connected to the targeted network. The network could be part of an integrated air defense system, a fighter’s radar or a missile’s guidance system.

 

There are some clues about how Boeing and Raytheon may finesse the AESA’s limitations.

 

“Right now, in our combat configuration, we have an empty weapons station on the F-15s,” says Giggy. “If we get to the fight and we aren’t using it, we’re making a mistake. So we’re looking at using a basic stand-in EW capability that is optimized to support the fifth-generation [stealth] force. We have critical capabilities that can help our LO friends against fighters and surface-to-air [missile] threats. We want to pinpoint what needs to be targeted and then deny and degrade that capability.”

 

That unused position is the centerline weapons station. That is the position the Navy has chosen to install at least some podded versions of its Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ), which is expected to feature new, more capable versions of the AESA antenna.

 

Air Force officials say they are not wedded to either the Navy’s NGJ or to its own core component jammer (CCJ) system designed for the EB-52 standoff jammer. However, industry researchers say that many of the high-frequency capabilities developed for the CCJ are being proposed for inclusion in NGJ, which means they also could be tailored into an Air Force EW/EA pod.

 

“Our goal is to break the [enemy’s] kill chain,” Giggy says. “The AESA is a critical component. We can’t stand-in against the current threats unless we can build that [electronic and radar] picture of the battlefield. The V3 allows us to pick and chose where we can go to deliver the [weapons’] effect. And some of those EW and non-kinetic warfare effects are very important.”

 

But they are expected to be only a few of the upgrades throughout the end of the F-15C’s operational life in 2030.

 

“With the capability gap that the Air Force is trying to address through the air dominance category with F-15C, we looked at a lot of technologies,” says Robert Martin, a Boeing business development official for the F-15 program. “The Air Force is going to look across platforms for effects to enhance war-fighter capability.”

 

Technologies already in consideration include advanced processing, EW, multi-spectral sensors, high-volume, low-probability-of-intercept data links and interoperability with unmanned platforms.

Come on, somebody post a nice wisecrack about the F-15 protecting the F-22, please!

Come on, somebody post a nice wisecrack about the F-15 protecting the F-22, please!

 

I've been holding back ...

 

Iceman [F-22A]: You can be my wingman any time.

Maverick [F-15C]: Bullsh*t! You can be mine.