Northrop Grumman completes vital test of EW

Electronic warfare (EW) is one hazard modern combat planes must navigate on the battlefield. EW systems include jammers and other electronic warfare systems that can interfere with the electromagnetic spectrum, depriving pilots and drone operators of vital information required to operate their aircraft. For decades, the United States military has operated in skies it could quickly and reliably control.

“Last time an American soldier died from an enemy aircraft was April 15th, 1953,” said James Hecker, a general in the U.S. Air Force, on a recent episode of the War on the Rocks podcast.

“We’ve gotten [slightly] spoiled, especially in the last 30 years. Desert storm, we had to fight for air superiority, but we got it quickly. We got it uncontested in other wars that we’ve been in in the last 20 years," he added.

But, "times they are a changing," with tensions rising with more technologically advanced nations like Russia and China. This is where EGI-M could help keep the USAF's edge over the competition.

The EGI-M is engineered to function in areas where the enemy obstructs or interferes with GPS signals. In such situations, the system relies on an inertial navigation system that utilizes gyroscopes to track the aircraft's speed and movement changes from a known point in space. To enhance navigation in GPS-contested environments, the EGI-M can receive GPS-M signals, which are more secure and challenging to obstruct as they are reserved explicitly for military applications.

During the May test flight, the Cessna testbed utilized three distinct models of the system to collect various forms of navigational information. According to some sources, the three types of navigational data gathered were solely inertial, solely GPS, and a combination of both through a GPS/inertial management system.

But it won't make them invulnerable

Once the system enters production, it will be installed on, first, the F-22 "Raptor" air superiority fighter with the E-2D "Advanced Hawkeye" tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft receiving units shortly afterward.

Although these new navigation systems cannot ensure complete protection from hostile EW threats, they should be able to increase the timeframe within which aircraft can operate safely and effectively. Additionally, they can simplify the process of regaining air superiority in challenging situations for both the US and Allied forces.