Expanding capabilities of Airborne Exploitation Pod
Speaking to MONS during the Association of the United States Army exhibition held in Washington DC between 9th and 11th October, the firm disclosed that it expects to add an electronic attack capability to its Airborne Exploitation Pod (AEP). CACI stated that currently the pod is solely configured for Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) collection across the circa 0.5 megahertz/MHz to 18 gigahertz segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, allowing the system to collect ELINT regarding most current military tactical radio systems and military radar.
While the firm demurred from revealing the platforms which the AEP equips, it did state that the pod can equip a Medium Altitude/Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-sized platform, a medium-lift utility helicopter or a light aircraft; the product is currently believed to be in service with the US Army. Similar-shaped objects have been seen equipping the wingtips of the US Army’s Beechcraft RC-12 Guardian family of signals intelligence gathering aircraft. The company expects to add a particularly innovative EW capability to the pod which would allow it to jam hostile signals using the similar Radio Frequency (RF) parameters to those signals or other hostile RF signals found on the battlefield. This would have the advantage of camouflaging the RF jamming signals, thus masking the jamming signals’ point of origin.
Dr. Thomas Withington