The US Air Force has recently completed the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) of the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), validating the ground-breaking capabilities BAE Systems’ advanced system brings to the F-15s.

According to the company, the EPAWSS provides critical electronic warfare (EW) capabilities for the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle II aircraft.

The EPAWSS was designed with continuous upgradeability and rapid capability addition in mind using agile software development to provide iterative upgrades to EW systems in the field. This enables users to defend against electromagnetic threats, which will arise in the future.

Also read: BAE Systems | Delivery of advanced incoming missile warning systems

The EPAWSS provides direct full-spectrum EW capabilities, including radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness, and self-protection. Furthermore, the system allows freedom of maneuver and deeper penetration into combat areas, which are protected by modern integrated air defence systems.

BAE Systems estimates that the EPAWSS is a technological leap, improving the lethality and combat capabilities of the F-15E and F-15EX in contested, degraded environments against advanced threats with the EPAWSS becoming the benchmark for EW in the combat aircraft field.

BAE Systems provided support to the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) to conduct Initial Operational Test and Evaluation of the EPAWSS and is currently in the process of producing and fielding one of the world’s most advanced EW systems, improving the F-15’s ability to perform combat missions.

Also read: BAE Systems | Demonstration of cognitive electronic warfare capabilities in exercise “Northern Edge 2023”

The company is working closely with Boeing and the US Air Force to enhance the system’s EW discrimination capabilities, including the use of cognitive EW, as was seen in demonstrations during the large-scale military exercise Northern Edge 2023 (NE23). You can read more in the article above.

As part of exercise NE23, the EPAWSS’s rapid response capability to electromagnetic threats, which had not been faced before, was tested. The tests focused on the system’s ability to process sensory data during the mission, create excellent techniques and optimize waveforms in real time.

Additionally, in the NE23 environment, the system was called upon to perform the requested actions in a dense, unpredictable electromagnetic spectrum at the operational field exercise level.

The EPAWSS program is implemented at BAE Systems’ facilities in Nashua, New Hampshire and Austin, Texas, with active production of EPAWSS material to support production of new F-15EX aircraft and modifications to the F-15E fleet.

BAE Systems is considered one of the leading manufacturers of defence systems in the world and in the US field its product range includes the US systems developed for the F-35. More on that in the article below.

Also read: BAE Systems | State-of-the-Art Electronic Warfare system for the F-35s

*Photo: BAE Systems