RAAF conducts electronic warfare testing of EA-18G Growler, F-35A Lightning II

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) recently conducted Electronic Warfare (EW) testing of the EA-18G Growler and F-35A Lightning II. 

Facilitated by the RAAF’s 6 and 75 Squadron, the testing was launched from the RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory (NT).

The testing, called ‘Trial Swagman’, was coordinated by the Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Unit (JEWOSU), a unit of Air Warfare Centre’s Spectrum Warfare Directorate.

“Trial Swagman was a ground-breaking event that tested Air Combat Group’s EW capabilities in a field environment,” Commanding Officer JEWOSU Wing Commander Alex Cave said in a statement.

“The world-class trial team, integrating EW specialists from partner nations, successfully conducted a complex test that will enhance platform survivability, improve Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Allied EW developmental test capabilities and feed future survivability optimisation activities,” Cave added.

Cave also said that the activity made use of the vast NT airspace, including Delamere Air Weapons Range, to test new EW countermeasures for air combat aircraft.

EA-18G pilot Flight Lieutenant Sam said Tindal Base provided essential resources to conduct flightline operations and servicing for the evaluation of new technologies.

“Trial Swagman was a fantastic opportunity for 6 Squadron to further develop and test our integrated tactical procedures with the F-35A, as well as enhance our agile combat employment frameworks, particularly the deployment to and from the NT in a short timeframe,” Sam said. 

The Flight Lieutenant also added that Trial Swagman gave RAAF’s junior aviators the opportunity to gain experience operating in the NT working alongside 75 Squadron, as well as experience its ground-based threat training MTTES (mobile threat training emitter system).

Commanding Officer 75 Squadron Wing Commander Andrew Nilson said the evaluation of Trial Swagman’s data would improve the survivability of Air Force’s air combat aircraft in contested environments. 

Electronic warfare in aircraft includes a variety of systems and techniques, such as Electronic countermeasures, Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM), a technique that allows a jammer to receive, analyze, and modify a radar’s pulse, then fire it back in time. This can create false targets that appear to move around real targets, and GPS jamming. 

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