Electronic warfare (EW) avionics experts at the Boeing Co. have won their second large contract within a month to produce EW avionics for the U.S. Air Force F-15 jet fighter fleet that will help protect the combat aircraft from radar-guided missiles. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced a $189.3 million six-year order in January to Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis for the F-15's Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivabil-ity System (EPAWSS) low rate initial production. The EPAWSS provides the Air Force F-15 jet fighter fleet with EW technology to make the most of mission effectiveness and survivability, BAE Systems officials say. It provides offensive and defensive EW options for the pilot. Boeing is the original manufacturer of the 1970s-vintage F-15 Eagle jet fighter, and the BAE Systems Electronic Systems segment in Nashua, N.H., designs and builds the EPAWSS. McDonnell Douglas Corp. designed the aircraft and manufactured it from 1976 to 1996. Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas in 1996 and continued F-15 production through 2019. EPAWSS also will be part of the avionics suite of the next-generation F-15EX, which is based on the F-15 Advanced Eagle that Boeing is building for the air forces of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which has a fly-by-wire flight control system, digital electronic warfare (EW) suite, an infrared search and track (IRST) system, and the Raytheon APG-63(ⅴ)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
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