The brand new Managed Reception Sample Antenna (CRPA) is a part of the Digital GPS Anti-jam Receiver (DIGAR) system put in within the F-15E Strike Eagle following a contract to BAE Programs in 2022.
Protection observers have famous the looks of a brand new Managed Reception Sample Antenna (CRPA) on U.S. Air Pressure F-15E Strike Eagles photographed throughout Operation Epic Fury. The round array is seen on high of the fuselage, on the starboard (right-side) proper subsequent to the velocity brake.
‘Abd’, a well-liked army aviation analyst on X, mentioned the CRPA is linked to the Digital GPS Anti-jam Receiver (DIGAR) system, “which is an ongoing improve alongside RMP and MUOS/SATURN.” The DIGAR improve emerged in September 2022, when BAE Programs obtained a $13 million contract to put in the system on F-15Es at its facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
RMP stands for the Radar Modernization Program, which entails changing the F-15E’s older APG-70 with the APG-82(V)1 Energetic Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, whereas MUOS and SATURN stand for Cell Person Goal System and Second Technology Anti-Jam UHF Radio for NATO, respectively.
The official photographs capturing the F-15E with the brand new system have been taken on Apr. 5, 2026, and revealed on DVIDS on Apr. 7. These are a part of a gallery exhibiting the F-15E and an F-35A Lightning II receiving gas from a KC-135 Stratotanker within the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Space of Duty (AOR).
Ought to be comparable in goal/operate to IAI ADA GNSS anti-jam modules fitted to Israeli F-15s and F-16s amongst different platforms. Each use CRPA beamforming to harden army GNSS/GPS (together with SAASM/M-Code) towards jamming whereas feeding protected PNT to the present receiver. pic.twitter.com/QuFbY6qMHm
— Abd (@blocksixtynine) April 9, 2026
CRPA makes use of a number of antennas to face up to jamming and ‘spoofing’ of Satellite tv for pc Navigation (SATNAV) indicators from the U.S. GPS and different constellations like Russia’s GLONASS, European Galileo and China’s BeiDou. The emergence of CRPA comes as EW jamming and the electromagnetic spectrum took middle stage within the struggle in Ukraine, and simply earlier than a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton ISR UAV disappeared from flight monitoring web sites over the Persian Gulf on Apr. 9.
RMP, DIGAR and EPAWSS upgrades for F-15Es
Abd recognized the plane within the photograph as assigned to Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. “I’ve seen it on a handful of F-15Es up to now, most of them LN tails however the deployed MO/SJs appear to have the mod,” Abd defined.
For readability, the LN, MO and SJ tail flashes correspond to the forty eighth Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, UK, the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain House AFB, Idaho, and the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, respectively. We had reported in mid-February that 14 MO and SJ F-15Es transited by RAF Lakenheath, together with 12 F-22s and 12 F-35A, as part of the buildup previous to Operation Epic Fury.
The round form of the CRPA on the F-15E is per the overall design of the system seen in a easy picture search. Throughout the round disk, nevertheless, the CRPA can have quite a few antenna parts, ranging wherever between 4 to 16. For example, the CRPA utilized by BAE Programs in its DIGAR system can help as much as seven parts.
After the DIGAR contract, BAE Programs had mentioned on Sep. 8, 2022, that USAF F-16 Preventing Falcons have been the primary platforms to obtain DIGAR programs. “DIGAR makes use of superior antenna electronics, high-performance signal-processing, and digital beamforming – a functionality that mixes 16 steered beams – for higher GPS sign reception and superior jamming immunity,” BAE’s assertion mentioned.
SATURN is a next-generation UHF communications customary, designed to permit safe, dependable voice and knowledge transmission whereas resisting jamming and interference. Due to the capabilities it will probably present, SATURN is taken into account the successor to the Have Fast ECM-resistant radios and the present NATO customary for safe army communications.
The following-generation Extremely Excessive Frequency SATCOM Cell Person Goal System (MUOS) has been chosen to interchange the legacy Extremely Excessive Frequency Comply with-On (UFO) satellite tv for pc communications system. MUOS is alleged to supply a capability 16 instances better than UFO SATCOM, with close to world past line of sight communication capabilities.
The MUOS and SATURN upgraded would possibly probably be put in alongside the Eagle Passive/Energetic Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS), designated the AN/ALQ-250 in america. A March 2024 pre-solicitation discover by the Air Pressure Materiel Command (AFMC), in actual fact, famous that the service was seeking to combine extra upgrades on the identical plane modification strains.
The discover scoured the marketplace for potential sources to supply “contact labor and help to combine the Cell Person Goal System/Second Technology Anti-Jam UHF Radio for NATO (MUOS/SATURN) into the F-15 Eagle Passive/Energetic Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) modification line.” Notably, BAE Programs can be the first contractor for the EPAWSS program.
It’s unclear if the DIGAR improve is a standalone program, impartial of the EPAWSS, MUOS and SATURN strains.
A complete of 99 F-15E Strike Eagles are on account of obtain the EPAWSS modification, and will probably be customary gear for the brand new F-15EX Eagle II. The safety suite can be meant to be built-in with Japanese and South Korean F-15s.
The primary two operational EPAWSS F-15E Strike Eagles have been delivered to the forty eighth Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath in January 2025. The plane returned there two years after the improve modification started in Might 2023.
The primary F-15E outfitted with the superior EPAWSS Digital Warfare system takes off from San Antonio and heads dwelling to the @48FighterWing.
This next-gen tech enhances pilot situational consciousness and ensures the F-15 can sort out trendy threats. pic.twitter.com/QG8hXi5ba8
— Boeing Protection (@BoeingDefense) January 17, 2025
Further F-15s EPAWSS-configured F-15Es would have been delivered in the mean time.
These plane already underwent the RMP improve, transitioning to the APG-82(V)1. In truth, the RMP was accomplished in 2024, with over 200 F-15Es receiving the brand new radar.
The 389th Fighter Squadron (389th FS) from Mountain House AFB, Idaho, was the primary to obtain an F-15E Strike Eagle with the brand new radar in June 2014. The service mentioned on the time that the MO jets would full their transition to the brand new radar by 2017, adopted by the remaining bases.
The RMP with the brand new APG-81 can be basic to help any future upgrades to the remainder of defensive, EW and mission programs.
