EB-52 Revival?

Canceled a few years ago by the AF, and now a contract shows up again. Rumour is up to a third of the fleet eventually.

The Boeing Co., of Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $14,983,252. This action will accomplish aircraft integration system engineering studies to support development of critical technologies required to enable airborne stand-off electronic attack. The technologies include low-band, high-power transmitting phased arrays, mid-band high-power transmitting phased arrays, and advanced exciters. At this time $4,050,000 has been obligated. AFRL/PKSE, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-08-C-1304).

www.defenselink.mil...


Sadly, I don't think it is aiming for "Old Dog" potential (for the Dale Brown fans out there), but still an interesting project.

I thought they had it sussed out with the Growler ? or do you think they are looking at a longer legged vehicle ?

Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) Capabilities
Full Spectrum: The EA-18G's ALQ-218 wideband receiver combined with the ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System will be effective against any surface-to-air threat.
Precision Airborne Electronic Attack: Selective-reactive technology enables the EA-18G to rapidly sense and locate threats with a significantly higher degree of accuracy than was previously possible. This improved accuracy enables greater concentration of energy against threats.
Advanced Communication Countermeasures: Its modular Communication Countermeasure Set enables the EA-18G to counter a wide range of communication systems and is readily adaptable to an ever-changing threat spectrum.
Interference Cancellation System (INCANS): INCANS dramatically enhances aircrew situational awareness by enabling uninterrupted communications during jamming operations.

looks real nice too. I still say the EF-111 and the EA-6 were retired too early.



Boeing

.... ugghhh huh wouldn't that be a sight to see ? I love the 'old dog' concept. Its awesome.



Mega fortress . com

_DEL_.... my apologies.

It IS the revival of the EB-52... not any thing to do with Growler.

My bad.

The US Air Force has revived a plan to transform a portion of the Boeing B-52 bomber fleet into long-range, radar-jamming platforms, formally launching a five-year study phase on 23 June.

The revival comes nearly three years after the USAF was forced to cancel the B-52 standoff jammer system (SOJS) programme after cost estimates ballooned seven-fold to $7 billion. The delay has shifted the operational debut of the new jammer fleet at least four years to 2018.

The new programme seeks to avoid seeks to hold overall costs to about $3 billion or $4 billion by scaling back the jamming requirements and reducing the number of B-52s involved.

The SOJS programme was cancelled after requirements grew to target all emitter threats in the low and middle bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Whereas, the new programme continues to focus on the early warning radars that fall mostly in the low band, but is aimed at only a subset of the potential threats in the middle band, said Jeff Weis, Boeing's programme manager for airborne electronic attack technology maturation.

The numbers of B-52s expected to be modified has shrunk from the entire bomber force to 34 aircraft, Weis said. Also, the USAF also plans to buy only 24 sets of wingtip pods during the programme, he added, so only two dozen B-52s would be able to perform the mission at any one time.

from:

Flight global

Ye Olde Double Post

[edit on 26-6-2008 by _Del_]

It's definitely for a standoff jammer built on the B-52 platform. Even without Boeing confirming it, I'd find it hard to believe that the AF spent 15M on feasibility studies for an aircraft already delivered to (and operational with?) the Navy.
I like the idea of a long-endurance stand off jammer built on the BUFF. The B-52 provides a lot of room for future growth in the role, as well. And you already have the airframes ready.



I was never a fan of the SST nose on the Old Dog but was intrigued by the concept.

The new thinking with the jamming platforms, is to have the B-52SOJ and MC-130s stand off in the distance, and do long range jamming. The EA-6B and EF-18s will go in with the strike package. They'll be paired up in an old fashioned Wild Weasel type matchup like they used to do with the F-4s.

Dan the EA-6B hasn't been retired. In fact the USAF flies them in a joint USN/USAF squadron. They won't be retired until 2010 when the Growler is around in large enough numbers to start replacing them.

It's a five year study. If it goes through, they're going to modify 34 aircraft, and have 24 sets of wingtip pods. They're looking at only the low and mid-band frequencies. The project was cancelled originally because costs had ballooned up to $7B. By only modifying 34 aircraft they're attempting to keep costs down to the $3-4B range. They're expected to be deployed in 2018.

Just in time to do stand off jamming for the new 2018 bombers... thats awesome.

2018 tech is looking hot!

It is an interesting concept and its had its stops and starts. The porblem is that there seems to be an element within the Pentagon that is really gung ho for the AESA jamming potiential. AESA radars do have the ability to selectivly jam narrow bands of frequency and can do so from within the strike package. I think that aside from budget issues that was the reason it was killed the first time around.

The obvious problem with this is that if you emitting you have to assume that can be picked up. and there goes the stealth for the that airframe or the whole package perhaps.

The EB-52 is an excellent concept but I wonder if its going to have issues with the ultra long range SAMS that can home on jam etc for targeting. The BUFF would be a easy target.

Now an EB-1B may be better able to defend itself in that type of scenario and would have a bit more speed but perhaps not the loiter time fo the BUFF.

I still think that a stealthy EB-UCAV would be the way to go IMHO.

The Austrailians are working on an EW platform UAV.

Aussie EW UAV microsoft word download

Just right click and save it.

heres a pic.

Australia has begun a multi-year program to explore the boundaries of the new RF and processor technology through a series of EW trials based on the Aerosonde mini-UAV. The initial trials conducted to-date have confirmed the viability of the Aerosonde as a platform capable of performing a wide range of EW functions. The ability to deploy these payloads for flight durations in excess of 24 hours at operational ranges over 1500km has raised considerable interest at the highest levels of the Australian Defence Force.

That was some time back, so if it worked then, all i can say is that the X-47B ucav would make a killer EW platform.

We deployed a UAV (Or RPV as was the term then in vogue) for EW work in Vietnam. It also could drop chaff. Little known fact.

Boeing and Northrup Grumman made this little video available: www.youtube.com...

A nod to Mr. Trimble who picked up the video and posted it.