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The US Navy has recently concluded its first deployment of the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) on VAQ-133 Wizards Boeing EA-18G Growlers. Meanwhile, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is working towards accepting NGJ kits. The NGJ employs active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) to emit electronic energy, blinding radars and blocking radio frequency communications. It is designed with an open system architecture for flexible use and mounting.
Barron Stone, a US Air Force veteran and electrical engineer, explains that jammers can send radio signals to block a radar's ability to detect its own signal or misdirect it from reality. Chuck Angus, RTX Requirements Director for Electronic Attack, elaborates on the goal: "What we're trying to do is to deny that adversary the ability to detect one of our strike packages so that we can get in close, drop our weapons, hit those targets, and then get out right before... you're detected."
Jamming also protects long-range weapons like the J-SOW glide bomb or cruise missiles by conserving expensive missiles and providing more 'magazine depth' to allied forces. John Ghosh from L3Harris Technologies highlights low-band jamming's role against lower frequency detection systems: "Some threats employ using lower frequency detection systems... but it can be good enough to employ a long-distance weapon with its own terminal guidance."
