Textron Systems has received a $9.5-million contract to support a US Air Force assessment of a core defensive sensor aboard the F-15 Eagle combat aircraft.
Work will focus on the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), developed to replace the aircraft’s legacy radar warning receiver, internal countermeasures set, and countermeasures dispenser set.
To support the project, the company will supply multiple units of its proprietary Advanced Architecture Phase, Amplitude and Time Simulator (A2PATS), which measures radar warning performance against modern electronic warfare threats in a high-density setting.
The package will incorporate benchmarking services and spare parts on top of the testing platforms.
Activities will be facilitated with the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and will run for 17 months.
Part of the contract will support evaluations for different foreign military sales customers.
‘Realistic’ Simulation
According to Textron, A2PATS validates solutions by generating various waveforms commonly emitted in contested battlefields.
The plug-and-play technology “stimulates” the covered signals to accurately replicate the phase, amplitude, and time of arrival of frequencies across various ranges.
“The A2PATS system is capable of simultaneously simulating both electronic intelligence and communications intelligence signals, allowing for the modeling of an entire integrated air defense system,” said Steve Mensh, senior vice president of electronic systems at Textron.
“What we’re providing to the US Air Force and our allied nations is a realistic environment for testing and training of modern electronic warfare capabilities.”
