Raytheon has been awarded a US$590 million (~$908 million) contract to deliver Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) ship sets to the US Navy (USN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
The NGJ-MB system consists of two pods, referred to as a ship set, which are mounted onto an EA-18G Growler aircraft. The system is designed to provide significantly improved Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) capabilities against advanced threats in the mid-band frequency range through enhanced agility and precision within jamming assignments, increased interoperability and expanded broadband capacity for greater threat coverage against a wide variety of radio frequency emitters.
The contract includes 13 sets of two pods each. Nine ship sets are for the USN while four are for the RAAF. The RAAF ship sets are funded through US$185.9 million (~$286 million) worth of RAAF cooperative development funds. The broader contract also includes spares, maintenance, and one-off engineering support. The contract will be completed January 2028.
Australia has been a cooperative development partner in the NGJ-MB program since 2017 when an MoU was signed between the RAAF and USN.
“As this is a rapidly evolving area, we will work in partnership with the US Navy to develop the next generation jamming capability, which will ensure that our aircraft remain at the technological forefront throughout their service life," said the former Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Leo Davies at the time.