AN/ALQ-99

The AN/ALQ-99 is an airborne electronic warfare system, found on EA-6B and EA-18G Growler military aircraft. The ALQ-99E version of the system was carried on the EF-111A Raven aircraft as an escort or standoff jammer.

The AN/ALQ-99 system on EA-6B Prowler Aircraft. The EA-6B in the foreground carries 3 under-wing jamming pods for transmitting and a single fixed pod on its tail for receiving.

Description

The ALQ-99 is an airborne integrated jamming system designed and manufactured by EDO Corporation. Receiver equipment and antennas are mounted in a fin-tip pod while jamming transmitters and exciter equipment are located in under-wing pods. The system is capable of intercepting, automatically processing and jamming received radio frequency signals.[1] The system receivers can also be used to detect, identify and direction find those signals, providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) either automatically or manually.[2]

An EF-111A Raven in the foreground carrying a fixed tail pod for receiving and a fixed transmitting pod on underside. Note that while the EA-6B carries removable transmitter pods, the EF-111 has the transmitter built into the underside of the aircraft.

The AN/ALQ-99 was mounted on the U.S. Navy's and U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft and U.S. Navy's EA-18G Growler aircraft. It was mounted on U.S. Air Force's EF-111A Raven aircraft before these aircraft were retired from service by May 1998. The U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler were Retired from Active service following deployment in 2015.

The AN/ALQ-99 has a maximum power output of 10.8 kW in its older versions and of 6.8 kW in its newer versions.[3] It uses a ram air turbine to supply its own power.[4][5]

History
Tail fin housing assembly for the AN/ALQ-99 equipment, seen during an EF-111A conversion

The AN/ALQ-99 has been used during the Vietnam War (1972–1973), Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986 American raid in Libya), 1991 Gulf War, Operation Northern Watch (1992–2003), Operation Southern Watch (1997–2003), 1999 Balkans War, 2003 Second Gulf War, and 2011 Operation Odyssey Dawn. The poor reliability of the ALQ-99 and frequent failures of the Built-In Test (BIT) have caused crew to fly missions with undetected faults. The ALQ-99 also interferes with the aircraft's AESA radar, reduces the top speed of the aircraft and imposes a high workload on the two-person crew when employed in the EA-18G Growler.[6]

Versions
  • AN/ALQ-99E – the version mounted on EF-111A aircraft. It has a 70% commonality with the U.S. Navy's AN/ALQ-99 systems.

See also

References
  1. EDO Corporation EA-6B Page Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. The Warfighter's encyclopedia Archived 12 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine. EA-6B Prowler Archived 5 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Cooling Requirements for the Advanced Ram Air Driven Power and Cooling Unit (ARADPCU) on the EA-18G Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. "ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System". U.S.Navy. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. John Pike (11 December 1999). "AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS)". Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  6. "GAO-10-388SP, Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs, March 30, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
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