🔷 Jamming

Offensive
Electronic Attack

Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO): the invisible battlefield where control of signals—communications, navigation, targeting, and more—can determine the outcome of a fight.

Dominating the spectrum with offensive electronic attack (OEA) is essential for projecting power—it breaks adversary kill chains by denying, disrupting, and degrading communication, data links, and air defense systems.

NGJ-MB

Leading this mission is the EA-18G Growler, which is enabled by Raytheon’s cutting-edge Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB).

NGJ-MB is a cooperative development and production program with the US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to ensure the EA-18G maintains its advantage on the battlefield.

The two-pod system actively disrupts and denies adversary use of the EMS, enabling other effectors—from stealth fighters penetrating contested airspace to cruise missiles striking high-value targets—and is a fundamental element of modern strike packages.

How it Works

NGJ-MB uses Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) that can dynamically respond to a range of frequencies and threats, the same tech used in modern fighter radars.

It’s also powered by the latest gallium nitride (GaN)-based technology, which further increases the efficiency and effectiveness of jamming range and coverage.

But what really sets NGJ-MB apart is its fully digital software-defined design and modular architecture. The design permits rapid reprogramming to respond to evolving threats.

Expansion

The modularity enables the system to be upgraded, and it’s already happening. Last year, the Navy tapped Raytheon to expand the frequency range of the pod—the new system is appropriately dubbed the NGJ-MBX.

The modularity also enables the pod to be repackaged across multiple platforms beyond the Growler.

That could be adapted to fit on a large aircraft like the B-52 bomber or integrated into a smaller platform like Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for all kinds of new ways to fulfill critical roles of standoff, modified escort, penetrating escort, and stand-in jamming.

🎧 Want more? In our latest podcast episode, we talk with Raytheon’s Benjamin “Chuck” Angus on all things offensive electronic attack and the NGJ-MB product line.

Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In That Number

Under 2 months

Ursa Major announced that they designed, built, and tested a 10” diameter HLG solid rocket motor in under 2 months. ⬅️ video

TRIVIA

The official designation of RTX’s NGJ-MB is the AN/ALQ-249. What does the “AN/ALQ” mean?

A) Aviation Node / Airborne Countermeasures
B) Army-Navy / Airborne Countermeasures Special Equipment
C) Airborne Countermeasures Special Equipment

On the Radar

UK F-35As need gas. The UK is buying F-35As to augment its F-35B fleet, but revealed it will need to rely on allies for aerial refueling to deploy them.

• The Merge’s Take: The cost savings of buying 12 F-35As created a logistical headache: the UK’s Voyager tankers are only equipped for probe-and-drogue refueling, which is not compatible with the F-35A’s boom-receptacle system. They were mainly purchased for the cost savings in pilot training, so don’t expect them to leave the island unless World War III breaks out.

Sea plane news. The first photo of China’s new ekranoplan confirms the vehicle is real and roughly the size of the AG600 flying boat. It joins a growing trend of renewed interest in wing-in-ground effect (WIG) vehicles, seaplanes that are optimized to fly within ground effect (i.e., very low to the water). Meanwhile, DARPA quietly canceled its Liberty Lifter program, a high-speed seaplane program, citing cost and feasibility issues.

• The Merge’s Take: Long considered a Cold War curiosity, WIGs are making a serious comeback. Despite DARPA’s Liberty Lifter cancellation (which was trying to build a C-130-sized WIG that could also fly high like a plane), US startup REGENT continues to make progress with its all-electric WIG—catch a glimpse of its full-scale sea glider testing in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

More E-7 Wedgetail happenings. The US Air Force wants to cancel its E-7 program due to concerns over cost and survivability, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead—a coalition of 16 retired Air Force four-star generals is advocating to keep it alive. Meanwhile, the UK’s first E-7 is nearing completion, with no signs of wavering commitment. Over in Asia, Boeing withdrew the E-7 from South Korea’s AEW E-X competition, leaving Saab (GlobalEye) and L3Harris (Phoenix Global 6500) in the running.

• The Merge’s Take: The E-7 saga captures the tug-of-war between legacy platforms and future bets, but as a friend of ours recently stated, it’s hard to get to the future if you can’t survive the present to get there. The rising price of the E-7 isn’t helping the situation—the US Air Force cancellation cited rising costs, and so did the withdrawal from South Korea’s AEW competition. BTW, South Korea already operates 4 E-7 Wedgetails, so the inability to compete to sell them 4 more E-7s for $2.6B is a bit concerning. Expect more news in the coming months as these two topics progress. The House version of Congress’s authorization bill adds $600M to save the program.

They Said It

“Despite contractors’ significant contribution to the government’s functions and capabilities, this portion of the economy and government operation is not well understood.”

— The inaugural 2025 Government Contracting Trends and Performance Index, which set out to better understand the $800B contracting industrial base that supports the federal government

Knowledge Bombs

• The Pentagon is buying a 15% stake in MP Materials to break its reliance on China for rare earth minerals

• Bell Textron won DARPA’s SPRINT competition to build a runway-independent X-plane

• France conducted high-altitude balloon tests with MICA IR missiles

• Boeing won an Air Force contract to outfit the B-1B Bomber with external pylons to carry weapons

• SNC & Red 6 announced a partnership, starting with the airworthiness of their ATARS mixed reality helmet for their $30M Air Force STRAFI contract.

• SOCOM cut its OA-1K Skyraider purchase by half next year (from 12 to 6), adding more doubt to the future of the 75 62 45(?) aircraft program

• HavocAI & Lockheed Martin partnered to develop medium unmanned surface vehicles (USV)

• Harmattan AI won a French Army contract to supply 1,000 autonomous combat drones

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ANSWER
C. AN/ALQ stands for Airborne Countermeasures Special Equipment and originates from a standardized naming convention developed by the US military during World War II.

A = installed in or on an aircraft. L = Countermeasures. Q = Special or combination equipment.

Initially, the “AN” stood for Army-Navy (answer B), but it was later changed in the 1950s to indicate that the system is part of what is now called the Joint Electronics Type Designation Automated System (JETDAS). Due to this, you’ll often see the “AN” omitted in non-official references.