Boeing to begin LRIP for F-15 EPAWSS electronic warfare suite

Boeing has been contracted to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) upgrade for the Boeing F-15 combat aircraft.

The F-15E Strike Eagle should be equipped with the new EPAWSS electronic warfare system in the early 2020s, with the F-15EX set to receive the suite also. (US Air Force)

Announced by the US Department of Defense (DoD) on 14 December, the USD79.6 million award will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and will run through to 31 December 2026.

Developed by BAE Systems as a sub-contractor to Boeing, the EPAWSS is designed to sample the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, identify threats, prioritise, and allocate jamming resources against them, and will replace the 1980s-vintage Tactical Electronic Warfare Suite (TEWS) currently fitted to the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) about 220 F-15E Strike Eagles. It is also one of the systems earmarked for the service’s latest F-15EX Advanced Eagle, of which as many as 200 are slated for eventual procurement.

News of the LRIP award came some eight months after the USAF began the first phase of critical electronic warfare (EW) testing of the EPAWSS suite at the Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF) on Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California. As noted at the time in April, those tests were a collaborative effort among the F-15 System Program Office (SPO) at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, the 96th Test Wing’s 46th Test Squadron at Eglin AFB in Florida, the 412th Test Wing’s 412th Electronic Warfare Group’s 772nd Test Squadron at Edwards and contractors, Boeing and BAE Systems.