BAE Systems said on Sept. 26 that it has received a five-year contract from Lockheed Martin
[LMT] to sustain the AN/ALR-94 digital electronic warfare (EW) system for Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor in service with the U.S. Air Force.
“Under the contract, BAE Systems will continue to manage EW system repairs and upgrades, supplier logistics, test equipment maintenance, and provide depot-level spares and engineering support to maintain F-22 EW readiness and relevancy for today’s air dominance mission,” BAE Systems said. “As the original manufacturer of the complex AN/ALR-94 EW system, BAE Systems has provided life cycle management of the system since the program’s inception.”
BAE Systems said that it is funding a new F-22 repair plant in Merrimack, N.H.
“The high-performance AN/ALR-94 system protects the Raptor with integrated radar warning, targeting support, and countermeasures – providing enhanced situational awareness and self-protection,” BAE Systems said. “The system helps pilots identify, monitor, analyze, and rapidly respond to potential threats, and enables mission success in signal-dense and contested environments.”
In fiscal 2024, the Air Force renews its request from last year to retire 32 Block 20 F-22 fighters –this time to fund more than $400 million of the service’s $2.3 billion request for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program (Defense Daily, March 30). The Air Force has said that the Block 20s are neither suited for combat nor training, as their cockpit differs significantly from operational F-22s.
Nevertheless, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) says in its report on the SASC’s fiscal 2024 national defense authorization bill that retirement of the Block 20s would not be “prudent, given the fact that the F-22 fleet would consist of only 153 aircraft after such a divestiture.”
“The committee recognizes that these Block 20 aircraft could easily be used for pilot training even if these aircraft do not have the latest avionics systems,” the report said. “Such training on Block 20 aircraft would reduce the demand for wear and tear on the F-22 Block 30/35 aircraft, reserving their useful life for potential conflicts.”
The reports of the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) and the Senate Appropriations Committee on their versions of the fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill also more than halve the nearly $795 million that the Air Force requested for F-22 equipment.
“The committee strongly supports the increased investment in modernizing the F–22A, which is critical to executing the National Defense Strategy,” the HAC report said. “In particular, the committee finds that the Sensor Enhancement program is aligned with several [Air Force] key Operational Imperatives and is also fundamental to future air superiority. However, the Committee is deeply concerned by the program’s developmental delays and the lack of corresponding adjustments in the fiscal year 2024 president’s budget request, despite significant reprogramming actions in fiscal year 2023.”
“Due to the pending Manufacturing Readiness Review and flight test demonstration, the committee recommends a reduction of $434,997,000 to Sensor Enhancements Group B,” the report said. “The committee urges the secretary of the Air Force to keep the congressional defense committees informed on the outcomes of these tests and other developments so it can make informed future decisions.”