ITT Develops a Podded Version of the AIDEWS Electronic Countermeasure System

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The new AIDEWS based EW pod from ITT will fit the size, weight and form factor of the ALQ-131 which has been flying with F-16s for decades. Photo: Northrop Grumman
The new AIDEWS based EW pod from ITT will fit the size, weight and form factor of the ALQ-131 which has been flying with F-16s for decades. Photo: Northrop Grumman

The ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT) has been awarded a $49 million Foreign Military Sales contract to provide a pod-variant version of the Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare System (AIDEWS) for the Pakistani Air Force F-16s. The new pod will use a variant of the digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) -based electronic-countermeasure system based on the ALQ-211 Electronic Warfare (EW) jamming system employed with several types of rotary wing aircraft and the F-16 fighter. The system provides fighter pilots with situational awareness and protection against radar-based threats, including modern surface-to-air and air-to-air weapon systems.

The podded version of AIDEWS will be delivered to the Pakistani Air Force. It will have the form factor of the ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod currently flying on U.S. Air Force and international F-16s. This export version of the pod incorporates the same hardware configuration from ITT’s AIDEWS, currently flying with five international customers. The new contract will provide for the flight qualification of the pod-mounted variant of AIDEWS for the F-16. AIDEWS has been selected to equip F-16 fighters operating with by six international air forces; ITT has already delivered 134 AIDEWS systems, out of 160 systems ordered.