BAE Lands Contract for F-35 Block 4 Electronic Warfare Systems

BAE Systems has received a contract from Lockheed Martin to install an upgraded Block 4 electronic warfare system into new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as well as to retrofit some older jets.

BAE’s AN/ASQ-239 EW systems will be installed on lots 20 to 22 of the F-35, the company said in an Oct. 6 statement, and some older F-35s with previous versions of the EW system will be retrofitted to have the latest version installed.

“BAE Systems has been the EW supplier for the F-35 program for the past 21 years, successfully designing and developing the Block 1, Block 2, and Block 3 configurations” of the AN/ASQ-239, Amber Dolan, BAE’s vice president of F-35 solutions, said in a follow-up statement to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We are currently developing Block 4 systems that can accelerate the delivery of advanced EW capabilities via adaptable hardware and incremental software updates.”

The updated EW suite is part of a broader program of upgrades to the Lockheed Martin-made F-35, collectively referred to as Block 4. Lockheed previously awarded BAE a $491 million contract for the F-35 EW systems in 2023, and another $493 million contract in 2021.

The Block 4 EW systems that will be in F-35 lots 20 and beyond “offer improvements in threat detection, situational awareness, and capabilities to counter modern threats,” Dolan said.

BAE declined to say how much the contract is worth and how many EW systems it will deliver for new jets and retrofits. The company said it has delivered more than 1,500 EW systems for the F-35 so far.

BAE said the AN/ASQ-239 system provides both offensive and defensive EW capabilities, which give pilots a 360-degree view of the battlefield and allow the F-35 to operate in environments protected by enemy fighters, missiles, drones, or integrated air defense systems. Its passive long-range sensing capabilities combine with high-speed signal processing and advanced algorithms to allow pilots to detect and counter threats before an enemy can act, the company said. The system’s software can also be quickly updated to account for new threats.

A previous upgrade to the AN/ASQ-239 EW system—called the Digital Channelized Receiver/Techniques Generator and Tuner Insertion Program, or DTIP—was launched in 2018. Those DTIP improvements allowed for previous versions of the EW system to be condensed into a smaller footprint that required less power, which created space for the new Block 4 modernization.

BAE said it has made investments in facilities—including the 2022 opening of a new 200,000-square-foot engineering and production facility in Manchester, N.H.—to help design and develop new EW systems. BAE also designs and manufactures EW systems at facilities in Merrimack, N.H., Nashua, N.H., and Austin, Texas.