An F-15EX fighter jet taxis to its parking spot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (US Air Force)
WASHINGTON — A new electronic warfare kit for the Air Force’s F-15 fleet has been cleared to enter full-rate production, the Pentagon announced.
The nearly $616 million contract, revealed late Monday, for the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) has a performance period expected to last until the end of 2030. The kits are produced by BAE Systems and integrated in the F-15 by prime contractor Boeing.
“BAE Systems is currently on schedule in support of Boeing’s F-15 EPAWSS LRIP [low-rate initial production] activities and is looking forward to supporting Boeing in the FRP [full rate production] phase of the program,” Kevin Fournier, EPAWSS Program Director at BAE Systems, said in a statement to Breaking Defense. Boeing confirmed receipt of the award but declined to comment more broadly.
The Air Force plans to put new kits on both the newer F-15EX and legacy F-15E jets. The Pentagon’s announcement didn’t say how many EPAWSS kits are included in the contract, but a Defense Department report [PDF] issued last year said the service planned to retrofit 99 F-15Es with EPAWSS and procure one system each for a fleet of 98 F-15EXs, though either number could change based on fluctuating fleet plans. (That overall figure is less than originally planned, after the Air Force in 2023 decided to slash procurement of the EW system and declare a cost breach.)
EPAWSS completed operational testing last year, and a June 2024 Government Accountability Office report [PDF] found that officials aimed to proceed to full-rate production before October 2024. A full-rate decision typically signifies satisfying criteria like design maturity and confidence in an underlying manufacturing process, paving the way to produce a system at a greater rate.
Electronic warfare systems like EPAWSS help pilots survive in contested battlespaces by alerting them to dangers like enemy radars and offering tools to jam them in response, among other features. Underscored by conflicts like the war in Ukraine, officials frequently emphasize the need to quickly retool EW systems to combat emerging threats in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Pointing to a demand for effective EW capabilities in the modern battlefield, Boeing officials have said they are exploring ways to turn the F-15EX into a platform similar to the Navy’s EA-18G Growler electronic attack jet.
