First flight of a high power software defined electronic warfare system

A description and flight test results of the "First Flight" of Raytheon's prototype next-generation, Pod based, airborne Electronic Warfare (EW) system is presented. The system is powered by the airstream flowing through a submerged turbine connected to a generator. The primary recipient of this prime power is a wideband, polarization diverse, Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) with Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules that contain efficient Gallium Nitride (GaN) amplifiers capable of operating between 0 to 100% duty cycle in either transmit or receive mode. Also featured is an all-digital, scalable, reprogrammable Software Defined Receiver/Exciter Unit that provides the technique generation. The airborne demonstration missions were flown on a Gulfstream III aircraft. They highlighted the jamming techniques that included Transmit and Receive waveforms, AESA beam agility and control, AESA transmit power, generator speed control/power management, and end-to-end system integration effectiveness against real target emitters.