BAE Systems has received a $93 million contract to provide critical sustainment support for the F-35 EW system

Defense Aviation News August 2021 aerospace air force industry
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BAE Systems has received a $93 million, five-year Undefinitized Contract Action from Lockheed Martin to provide critical sustainment support for the AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare (EW) countermeasure system. The contract will ensure the mission readiness of the growing global fleet of F-35 aircraft.

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BAE Systems has received a 93 million contract to provide critical sustainment support for the F 35 EW system The AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare suite provides real-time situational awareness and superior electronic warfare attack and countermeasure capabilities. The system is capable, reliable, affordable, and sustainable, and enables the US and its allies to maintain electromagnetic spectrum superiority (Picture source: US Air Force)

“We have a strong track record of sustaining electronic warfare systems to support our customers’ mission readiness,” said Rob Dykema, F-35 Sustainment program director at BAE Systems. “This contract lays critical sustainment groundwork, establishing and optimizing the infrastructure to support the aircraft.”

Under the contract, BAE Systems will provide software maintenance, depot test equipment support, logistics analysis, obsolescence monitoring, technical field support, and reachback support for the F-35 U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory.

The contract complements the BAE Systems F-35 performance-based logistics (PBL) program, through which BAE Systems ensures EW material availability. Under the EW PBL, BAE Systems has demonstrated a 60% improvement in supply support, delivering better than 85% EW material availability to the F-35 enterprise with reduced cost per flight hour using a cost-effective, outcome-based support strategy.

The AN/ASQ-239 system collects and processes electromagnetic energy to capture a 360-degree aerial field of view to provide a comprehensive picture of the battlespace. This provides the pilot with maximum situational awareness, helping to identify, monitor, analyze, and rapidly respond to potential threats. Using advanced avionics and sensors, the systems takes this a step further by detecting and geo-locating electronic emitters to give pilots the option to evade, engage, counter or jam threats.