Air Force pilots will fly the first updated electronic attack platform

The Air Force received its first EA-37B Compass Call aircraft for pilot training last week at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona as the U.S. military works to modernize its electronic warfare arsenal.

Contractor BAE Systems delivered the first 10 aircraft to the Air Force last September for system development testing, but this latest delivery is the first system ready for pilot training. The platform is designed to disrupt enemy systems.

“For a pilot, there is nothing better than picking up a brand new aircraft from the factory and turning it over to the soldiers. For those of you who get to fly it, it will be incredible,” Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, said in a statement. “We are on the cusp of delivering advanced capabilities, particularly in electronic warfare, and today is an exciting day for Air Combat Command.”

The delivery is a key milestone in the Air Force's journey to modernize its capabilities in the electromagnetic spectrum for what is known as competition between great powers and advanced nation states such as China and Russia. While the legacy EC-130H Compass Call provided important capabilities such as messaging from an information operations perspective and jamming during the Global War on Terror, the threat in the electromagnetic spectrum has grown exponentially in recent years.

The Air Force decided to revamp the system with improved capabilities and a smaller Gulfstream G550 aircraft – initially called the EC-37B Compass Call until it was renamed the EA-37B Compass Call in October 2023 to better articulate its electronic attack mission. The new aircraft offers greater range, speed and agility compared to the larger predecessor platform. In addition, technology updates and a software baseline make the jamming capability much more lethal, as it can handle many more and more diverse targets than its predecessor.

It is expected to be a critical tool in the joint force's arsenal, alongside other airborne electronic attack platforms such as the Navy's Next Generation Jammer program, to jam the enemy's tactical networks and information ecosystems.

In particular, Compass Call degrades and disrupts enemy communications, information processing, navigation, radar systems and radio-controlled threats while simultaneously exploiting offensive counter-information and electromagnetic attack capabilities, the US Air Force said.

“The EA-37B is the right choice right now because as we continue to move toward great power competition, we have adversaries developing long-range kill chain ecosystems and anti-access area denial capabilities,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas Hensley, commander of the 16th Air Force, the U.S. Air Force's information warfare command, in a statement. “Compass Call allows us to operate in both the non-kinetic and electromagnetic spectrum to give us an advantage, not them.”