Exelis has received official certification for its AN/ALQ-211(V)9 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare System (AIDEWS) to fly on board Pakistani F-16s.
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The AIDEWS pod is currently the only digital radio frequency memory-based electronic warfare (EW) pod certified to F-16 basic aircraft limits, including requirements for lightning protection.
The ALQ-211(V)9 is an external pod variant of the Exelis ALQ-211 family of electronic self-protection systems. After completing the U.S. Air Force Seek Eagle process for aircraft stores certification, the system is now cleared for deployment with F-16A/B block 15 aircraft procured through the Peace Drive 2 Foreign Military Sales program. This certification can be readily extended to F-16 Blocks 25-52, both domestic and international.
To achieve certification, the Exelis team defined, flew and evaluated a series of compatibility flight profile (CFP) missions designed to clear the pod to the F-16’s basic limits. Two stores configurations were evaluated to capture current and future pod configuration requirements without the need for additional CFP missions. Conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the successful tests were a collaborative effort with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth, Texas, and the U.S. Air Force.
The AIDEWS pod is a self-contained integrated electronic countermeasures and radar warning receiver system designed to protect the F-16 Fighting Falcon from radio frequency (RF) threats. The pod system offers the flexibility to be installed or removed based on mission requirements, while greatly enhancing pilots’ situational awareness.
“The AIDEWS pod provides the U.S. and its allies with a modular, highly capable and cost-effective survivability system for a range of fighter aircraft,” said Joe Rambala, vice president and general manager of the Exelis integrated electronic warfare systems business. “Achieving this certification will give more pilots access to the system’s advanced RF protection and the flexibility to meet the evolving RF threat.”
Seek Eagle is the standard aircraft stores certification process for the U.S. Air Force. Through digital modeling, simulation and analysis, ground tests and flight tests, the process ensures that stores such as weapons, carriage and release equipment and external tanks and pods can fly safely on their respective platforms. The certification process includes verifying safe upload and download procedures, flight limits for safe carriage, employment, jettison and safe escape, and ballistic accuracy.
The AIDEWS electronic self-protection system is produced at the Exelis facility in Clifton, New Jersey, and is part of a suite of EW technologies designed to enable domestic and international customers to perform their critical missions. Leveraging its decades of innovation and experience in the electromagnetic spectrum, Exelis has identified EW as one of the company’s four strategic growth platforms.
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