USAF skifter ut slitne C-130 med Gulfstream G550 som ny Compass Call maskin - DefenseNews

 

L3Harris: First flight of future Compass Call paves way for 2022 delivery

By Stephen Losey

 Oct 19, 10:09 PM

The EC-37B, the Air Force's next Compass Call aircraft, will be a modified version of the Gulfstream G550 business jet packed with jamming and other electronic warfare equipment. The Air Force already flies a modified G550 as the C-37B, pictured here at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, to transport high-ranking government or Defense Department officials. (Air Force)

WASHINGTON — The airplane that will one day be the Air Force’s next electronic warfare aircraft, the EC-37B Compass Call, has made its first flight and the contractor handling the program says it is on track to be delivered to the service for testing next year.

The current version of the Compass Call, the EC-130H, played a lesser-known — but vital — role in the last two decades of war in the Middle East region, jamming the communications and bomb transmissions of militant groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State. But those decades-old air frames — some of which date back to the Vietnam War era — are aging and sorely need replacing.