EA-18G Growler is a complex piece of engineering, and pack lot of punch in EW.
- 3 x AN/ALQ-99(v) tactical jamming pods (1 x Low Band on the Center; and 2 x High Band on the LEFT and RIGHT); 6.8 kW each, and computer controlled (automatic radar signal processing).
- ALQ-218(v)2 electronic surveillance and electronic attack suite [INTERNAL and EXTERNAL components]
* (RWR/ESW/ELINT functions with 2 x wingtip pods); HARM targeting concurrent with jamming activity [bands 1 - 10].
- Interference Cancellation System** [INTERNAL]; uninterrupted UHF communications during jamming activity.
- AN/ALQ-227(v)1 Communications Countermeasures Set [INTERNAL] = transmit function through AN/ALQ-99(V) radar jamming pod (1 x Low Band on the Center).
- ALE-50 towed decoy.
*360 degree coverage to figure out what the emitters are and where they are, to disrupt adversary kill chains.
**ICANS in short.
The aircraft is equipped with two engines (F414-GE-400), to manage its heavy payload without significant compromises in KINEMATICS.
The aircraft is equipped with AN/APG-79(v) radar system*** (Optimized for EW operations; 222 KM range)
***Primary characteristics include: Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) [Side Info], Non-Coperative Target Recognition (NCTR) – Narrow Beam Interleaved Search and Track [Class Info], Continous Tracking Capability [Phased Array Radar], Track While Scan (TWS), Low Probability of Intercept (LPI), Pulse Doppler Radar (Full LDSD Capability), Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA).
The entire electronic warfare system of the aircraft is INTEGRATED:-
Avionics include ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting FLIR (ATFLIR), Shared Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) and Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JMHCS). Operators include one pilot and one electronic warfare operations officer.
The aircraft ensure full spectrum AEA
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PAF should order these, when relations with US normalize. A squadron of these would be excellent for operations in a battlespace involving S-400 systems in the future.