Raytheon has taken a serious step ahead in growing its next-generation digital warfare suite for america Navy’s F/A-18E/F Tremendous Hornet fleet, with the corporate’s Superior Digital Warfare (ADVEW) prototype efficiently passing a crucial software program and methods assessment.
The milestone confirms that the ADVEW prototype is progressing on schedule, with software program integration, flight-representative {hardware} testing and alignment with US Navy reference architectures all validated.
The system is designed to switch the present AN/ALQ-214 Built-in Defensive Digital Countermeasures system, which has fashioned the spine of the Tremendous Hornet’s self-protection functionality for greater than twenty years.
Based on Raytheon, ADVEW will provide sooner menace detection, extra agile countermeasures and elevated survivability in contested environments dominated by superior radar and missile methods.
Daniel Theisen, president of superior merchandise and options at Raytheon, stated the system would considerably improve the Tremendous Hornet’s effectiveness in opposition to rising digital threats.
“Our ADVEW prototype continues to showcase vital progress in each {hardware} and software program that may enhance the plane’s capability to detect and counter digital threats,” he stated.
“We’re on observe with our fast-paced schedule and can proceed growing the system to fulfill all needed necessities on the US Navy’s accelerated fielding timeline.”
The announcement comes because the US Navy prepares to maintain the Tremendous Hornet in front-line service nicely into the 2040s, regardless of earlier plans to curtail manufacturing. For Australia, the event has direct implications.
The RAAF operates 24 F/A-18F Tremendous Hornets from RAAF Base Amberley, acquired in 2010, as an interim strike functionality earlier than the arrival of the F-35A Lightning II.
Along with its strike-fighter position, the Tremendous Hornet is a key platform for digital warfare integration with the RAAF’s fleet of 12 EA-18G Growlers, which carry devoted jamming pods and sensors. If adopted by Canberra, ADVEW may assist future-proof the RAAF’s Tremendous Hornets and guarantee seamless interoperability with US Navy counterparts in high-threat environments.
Raytheon has already carried out a take a look at plan working group with the US Navy to refine in-flight analysis processes and streamline certification. The subsequent section will see additional demonstrations and the supply of production-representative methods for government-run integration testing.
Defence observers famous that with Australia’s defence coverage more and more targeted on countering superior anti-access/space denial threats within the Indo-Pacific, funding in digital warfare upgrades for the Tremendous Hornet and Growler fleet may change into a precedence beneath the Built-in Funding Program.
