Portugal joins Embraer and Brazil on C-390 ISR capabilities study
The ongoing study was first announced by Embraer in late 2024 with the Brazilian Air Force, with this latest addition announced during the LAAD defence and security exhibition.
AN/ALQ-249 NGJ-MB pod on a USN EA-18G Growler (Photo: Raytheon)
The US Navy (USN) has awarded RTX group’s Raytheon a US$590 million follow-on production contract for the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system.
The programme is to provide systems for use on the USN’s and the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. As well as delivery of shipsets, the contract also includes support equipment, spares and non-recurring engineering support.
The airborne electronic attack system consists of two pods, containing two electronically scanned arrays that radiate in the mid-band frequency range.
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The USN and RAAF will employ the NGJ-MB to target advanced radar threats, communications, data links and non-traditional radio frequency threats.
The system reduces adversary targeting ranges, disrupts adversary kill chains and supports kinetic weapons to target. The NGJ-MB allows crews to operate effectively at extended ranges and attack multiple targets simultaneously.
The first pod was delivered for testing in mid-2019 with its first flight test completed 12 months later. Two years after that, the first pods were delivered to the USN.
Earlier this year Raytheon was awarded a $192 million contract to develop the Next-Generation Jammer Mid-Band Expansion (NGJ-MBX) – an upgrade to the NGJ-MB.
The modification of the NGJ-MB will extend its frequency range and provide improved operational effectiveness, Raytheon claimed.
The ongoing study was first announced by Embraer in late 2024 with the Brazilian Air Force, with this latest addition announced during the LAAD defence and security exhibition.
The potential sale, approved by the US to the Philippines, is for 20 F-16 Block 70/72 jets, days after US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth visited the country.
The acquisition of four C-390 aircraft follows the country’s signing of an MoU in 2023 and formal selection in 2024. It will join the existing contract held by the Netherlands and Austria.
The counter-UAS prototype, named Low-cost Air Defence or ‘LOAD’, will be used to combat kamikaze UAS.
The aircraft is the first of 66 to be delivered to Taiwan from Lockheed Martin.
The contract award, worth $240 million, is part of the ongoing effort by the US Army to modernise its Block II Chinook rotorcraft fleet.