Navy Hardens P-8 Sub-hunting Plane Against EW “Jamming” Attacks

by Olawale Abaire, Warrior Editorial Fellow

According to Janes, an open-source defense intelligence, the U.S. Navy has engaged BAE Systems in a strategic partnership under a substantial contract, valued at $95 million, for the engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) of an innovative radio frequency (RF) countermeasure system known as the Advanced Survivability Pod (ASP). This pod, tailored specifically for deployment on the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, represents a significant advancement in anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon, an aircraft designed primarily for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, will now incorporate the BAE Advanced Survivability Pod under its wings, enhancing its defense mechanisms against sophisticated threats. The ASP integrates an AN/ALE-55 Fibre-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD), which is also utilized on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 fighters, and includes an additional unnamed RF countermeasure system enclosed within the pod. This dual-component design not only increases the survivability of the aircraft but also enhances its operational efficacy against RF-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

In their official statement, BAE Systems highlighted the pod’s flexible, open architecture, which facilitates both rapid and cost-effective modernization. This design philosophy ensures compatibility with emerging threat detection technologies and decoy countermeasure capabilities. It also supports the integration of third-party electronic warfare (EW) techniques, allowing for a broader application spectrum and adaptability to future warfare environments.

The development of the ASP is a direct response to a requirement identified by the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Program Office (PMA-290), which emphasized the need for enhanced self-protection capabilities on the P-8A platform. The trajectory of this project began with a contract awarded in 2020 for the prototyping of the ASP, leading to a swift development cycle. Remarkably, within just over a year, BAE and the U.S. Navy had not only developed a prototype but also conducted rigorous airworthiness testing on a P-8 aircraft.

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Following these tests, the ASP underwent a series of effectiveness evaluations at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The outcomes of these evaluations have not been fully disclosed; however, the continuation of the program into further integration phases suggests a successful demonstration of the system’s capabilities.