EW suite upgrade on F-15E Strike Eagle is put through its paces in major test
NewsNovember 23, 2020
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. The Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), the updated new radar warning and electronic warfare (EW) suite for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle, is one step closer to becoming operational in the F-15E fleet after a recent large force test event, dubbed the Large Force Test Event (LFTE) 20.03.
The EPAWSS -- designed by BAE Systems to sample the electromagnetic spectrum, identify threats, prioritize, and allocate jamming resources againstadversaries -- is aimed at ensuring the Strike Eagle's survival in the kind of contested airspace environments in which the Air Force might expect to find itself fighting in the future. The Air Force is counting on the EPAWSS keeping the Strike Eagle viable until beyond 2040.
According to information from the Air Force, LFTE 20.03 was designed to validate tactics in a contested environment, refine electronic attack tactics using new capabilities, and optimize interoperability between groups of fighters and standoff electronic attack platforms. “Prioritized test” status was given to portions of the event that focused on EPAWSS, as well as the F-16’s new AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and countertactics against enemy passive-detection systems and infrared search and track sensors.
