U.S. Northrop Grumman Upgrades F-16 Fighter Survivability and Lethality With IVEWS-SABR Pairing
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Northrop Grumman says it has completed full integration of the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS) with the AN/APG-83 SABR radar on U.S. Air Force F-16s. The pairing lets the fighter hunt, jam, and track inside the same spectrum slice, a capability that strengthens the Viper’s survivability in near-peer threat zones.
Northrop Grumman Corporation announced on October 27, 2025, that the company has fully integrated its AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite with the AN/APG-83 SABR active electronically scanned array radar on U.S. Air Force F-16s. The result is a Viper that can hunt, jam, and target in the same slice of spectrum without blinding itself, a critical step as fourth-generation fighters are pushed deeper into near-peer threat rings.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
An upgraded F-16 Viper with Northrop Grumman’s IVEWS and SABR radar jams advanced threats while keeping a clear picture in contested airspace (Picture source: Northrop Grumman).
IVEWS is a digital, ultra-wideband suite built around a new radar warning receiver, an EW optimized processor, and high power transmitters with antennas sized for the F-16’s tight nose and wing root spaces. The architecture is shared with other Northrop electronic warfare programs of record, which lets software and threat libraries evolve faster than on bespoke legacy podded systems. It can detect, identify, geolocate, and counter modern radio frequency threats, including millimeter wave engagement radars that underpin the latest surface-to-air missile systems.
The key innovation is how the jammer coexists with SABR. IVEWS and the AN/APG-83 coordinate digitally on a pulse-to-pulse basis so each waveform knows which part of the spectrum the other is using at any instant. There is no need to blank the radar while transmitting jamming energy, which historically created dangerous gaps in the air picture. In practice, a Viper crew can run high-resolution synthetic aperture mapping or multi-target tracking while IVEWS is actively denying enemy fire control radars, preserving track quality instead of smearing it with self-interference.
The APG-83 AESA draws on technology from the F-22’s APG-77 and the F-35’s APG-81, offering long-range search, precise SAR mapping, ground moving target indication, and advanced maritime modes with significantly higher reliability compared to mechanically scanned sets. It is the U.S. Air Force program of record radar for F-16 upgrades and the baseline sensor for new build Block 70 and F-16V aircraft, with hundreds of units delivered worldwide.
On the development side, IVEWS was selected by the Air Force in 2019, then pushed through lab integration at the J-PRIMES facility and early flight events such as Northern Lightning 2021, where paired F-16s faced dense airborne and ground emitters. That work culminated in an Operational Assessment with more than 70 sorties and over 250 to 300 flight hours in complex spectrum environments, after which the suite was cleared as a program of record and prepared for production. Additional congressional funding later accelerated fielding, with dozens of shipsets earmarked to answer an urgent Middle East operational need.
The combined IVEWS-SABR fit shifts the F-16 from relying on offboard jamming to acting as its own escort and penetration platform. The electronic warfare suite can rapidly sort agile, mobile emitters in cluttered airspace and generate geolocation data while still feeding a clean radar picture into the cockpit and the Link 16 network. That closes the loop for suppression of enemy air defenses, allowing a four-ship to time HARM shots, decoys, and stand-off weapons with better confidence in where hostile batteries actually are, even as those systems hop frequencies and maneuver.
For the industry, the real story is scalability across the global F-16 fleet. SABR is already standard on F-16V and Block 70 jets for customers across the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific, and retrofits are underway or planned for other operators. IVEWS has secured its first major foreign sale in Turkey, which plans to buy more than 150 suites for both new and legacy Vipers, and Northrop is in active discussions with additional air forces that want to align with the U.S. program of record in the face of fast-evolving radio frequency threats. The same modular architecture is migrating onto other U.S. platforms, including the Army’s HADES ISR aircraft, and is adaptable to unmanned systems and airlifters, giving Northrop a broader export story than fighter self-protection alone.
In practical terms, that means any air force investing in Block 70 or deep F-16 midlife upgrades now faces a strategic choice. Competing suites exist, but a radar and electronic warfare pairing from a single U.S. supplier that behaves like a mini Growler on every Viper will appeal to countries expecting to operate under heavy electronic attack and seeking common, U.S.-validated software baselines. For NATO and close partners, the integrated IVEWS-SABR stack is a way to keep massed fourth-generation fighters credible in the same engagement zones where fifth-generation aircraft will be scarce and heavily tasked.
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Northrop Grumman says it has completed full integration of the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS) with the AN/APG-83 SABR radar on U.S. Air Force F-16s. The pairing lets the fighter hunt, jam, and track inside the same spectrum slice, a capability that strengthens the Viper’s survivability in near-peer threat zones.
Northrop Grumman Corporation announced on October 27, 2025, that the company has fully integrated its AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite with the AN/APG-83 SABR active electronically scanned array radar on U.S. Air Force F-16s. The result is a Viper that can hunt, jam, and target in the same slice of spectrum without blinding itself, a critical step as fourth-generation fighters are pushed deeper into near-peer threat rings.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
An upgraded F-16 Viper with Northrop Grumman’s IVEWS and SABR radar jams advanced threats while keeping a clear picture in contested airspace (Picture source: Northrop Grumman).
IVEWS is a digital, ultra-wideband suite built around a new radar warning receiver, an EW optimized processor, and high power transmitters with antennas sized for the F-16’s tight nose and wing root spaces. The architecture is shared with other Northrop electronic warfare programs of record, which lets software and threat libraries evolve faster than on bespoke legacy podded systems. It can detect, identify, geolocate, and counter modern radio frequency threats, including millimeter wave engagement radars that underpin the latest surface-to-air missile systems.
The key innovation is how the jammer coexists with SABR. IVEWS and the AN/APG-83 coordinate digitally on a pulse-to-pulse basis so each waveform knows which part of the spectrum the other is using at any instant. There is no need to blank the radar while transmitting jamming energy, which historically created dangerous gaps in the air picture. In practice, a Viper crew can run high-resolution synthetic aperture mapping or multi-target tracking while IVEWS is actively denying enemy fire control radars, preserving track quality instead of smearing it with self-interference.
The APG-83 AESA draws on technology from the F-22’s APG-77 and the F-35’s APG-81, offering long-range search, precise SAR mapping, ground moving target indication, and advanced maritime modes with significantly higher reliability compared to mechanically scanned sets. It is the U.S. Air Force program of record radar for F-16 upgrades and the baseline sensor for new build Block 70 and F-16V aircraft, with hundreds of units delivered worldwide.
On the development side, IVEWS was selected by the Air Force in 2019, then pushed through lab integration at the J-PRIMES facility and early flight events such as Northern Lightning 2021, where paired F-16s faced dense airborne and ground emitters. That work culminated in an Operational Assessment with more than 70 sorties and over 250 to 300 flight hours in complex spectrum environments, after which the suite was cleared as a program of record and prepared for production. Additional congressional funding later accelerated fielding, with dozens of shipsets earmarked to answer an urgent Middle East operational need.
The combined IVEWS-SABR fit shifts the F-16 from relying on offboard jamming to acting as its own escort and penetration platform. The electronic warfare suite can rapidly sort agile, mobile emitters in cluttered airspace and generate geolocation data while still feeding a clean radar picture into the cockpit and the Link 16 network. That closes the loop for suppression of enemy air defenses, allowing a four-ship to time HARM shots, decoys, and stand-off weapons with better confidence in where hostile batteries actually are, even as those systems hop frequencies and maneuver.
For the industry, the real story is scalability across the global F-16 fleet. SABR is already standard on F-16V and Block 70 jets for customers across the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific, and retrofits are underway or planned for other operators. IVEWS has secured its first major foreign sale in Turkey, which plans to buy more than 150 suites for both new and legacy Vipers, and Northrop is in active discussions with additional air forces that want to align with the U.S. program of record in the face of fast-evolving radio frequency threats. The same modular architecture is migrating onto other U.S. platforms, including the Army’s HADES ISR aircraft, and is adaptable to unmanned systems and airlifters, giving Northrop a broader export story than fighter self-protection alone.
In practical terms, that means any air force investing in Block 70 or deep F-16 midlife upgrades now faces a strategic choice. Competing suites exist, but a radar and electronic warfare pairing from a single U.S. supplier that behaves like a mini Growler on every Viper will appeal to countries expecting to operate under heavy electronic attack and seeking common, U.S.-validated software baselines. For NATO and close partners, the integrated IVEWS-SABR stack is a way to keep massed fourth-generation fighters credible in the same engagement zones where fifth-generation aircraft will be scarce and heavily tasked.
