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15 Dec 16. USAF employs EC-130H Compass Call aircraft against ISIS. The US Air Force (USAF) employs the EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, a modified version of the C-130 Hercules, in its fight against ISIS.
The modified aircraft, with an electronic countermeasures system, air refuelling capability and associated navigation and communications, has the ability to perform tactical command, control and communications countermeasures.
The Compass Call makes use of noise jamming to prevent communication or degrade the transfer of information essential to command and control of weapon systems and other resources, the USAF said in a statement.
USAF 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Attack Squadron commander lieutenant colonel Josh Koslov said: “When the Compass Call is up on station supporting our Iraqi allies, we are denying (ISIS) ability to command and control their forces, to coordinate attacks.”
The aircraft employs around 12 airmen, including a standard C-130 flight crew on the flight deck, a contingent of electronic warfare officers and linguists in the rear of the aircraft.
Koslov further added: “(The linguist’s) weapon is language. They help us to efficiently find, prioritise and target (ISIS). They prioritise the signals we’re targeting from the strategic (level) through the tactical level and they also help the electronic warfare officer make jamming decisions in order to provide the effects desired by the ground force commander.”
The EC-130H makes ISIS fighters ineffective by inducing massive confusion and friction. The USAF currently operates a fleet of 14 EC-130Hs for electronic warfare, suppression of enemy air defences and offensive counter information.(Source: airforce-technology.com)
14 Dec 16. Boeing delivers first GATM-upgraded E-3 to NATO. The first of 14 Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to be upgraded for operations in commercial airspace has been delivered back to NATO, the company announced on 13 December.
The aircraft, which had been fitted with global air traffic management (GATM) technology, was modernised by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) under the engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) phase of a USD250m contract awarded in August 2014, and handed back on 16 November.
With this handover, the remaining 13 aircraft included in the contract will be upgraded by Airbus as the NATO AWACS support authority at the company’s Manching facility in southern Germany.
The programme is focused on a new flight management system and the installation of 50 new ‘black boxes’, as well as the integration of flight safety avionic systems. As well as making the aircraft GATM-compliant, it will also reduce the flight crew from three to two.
The second aircraft upgrade is already under way, with the entire fleet slated for completion in 2018. The GATM modernisation has also been installed on a US Air Force AWACS, which is completing extensive flight tests and will be delivered in 2017.
Based on a modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe, the E-3 is built around a 9.1 m-diameter rotating radome that sits atop the fuselage. This radar has a range of more than 400 km (which equates to a coverage area of more than 500,000 km 2 of airspace) to look down and detect, identify, and track low-flying aircraft over land or water.
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 Dec 16. U.S. approves $25m radar sale to the Philippines. The U.S. government has approved the sale to the government of the Philippines of two Sea Giraffe radars and related equipment, support and training for about $25m, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Wednesday. The Philippines requested the sale to improve monitoring of its territorial waters. The radars will be installed on two Philippines Navy ships and the principle contractors will be VSE Corp and Saa