The Air Force has approved the F-15′s new advanced electronic warfare system for full-rate production, allowing it to be installed in more of the existing fighter fleet.
The Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System, or EPAWSS, is built by BAE Systems and is intended to allow F-15 fighters to monitor, jam and deceive threats in highly contested environments. EPAWSS is a standard component of the F-15EX Eagle II fleet now being constructed by Boeing, and the Air Force also wants to retrofit part of the existing F-15E Strike Eagle fleet with the new system.
The Air Force on Jan. 6 awarded a nearly $616 million contract to Boeing for full-rate production of EPAWSS, and work is expected to be done by the end of 2030.
The contract pays for the procurement and construction of 45 sets of EPAWSS production kits — dubbed Group A and Group B kits — for the F-15E, as well as spares for the B kits and system engineering program management. It will also cover long lead lay-in material for EPAWSS systems for both the F-15E and F-15EX jets.
Work on the EPAWSS kits will take place in St. Louis, Missouri, and Nashua, New Hampshire. Boeing plans to continue conducting the installation work at its San Antonio, Texas, facility, where it has been installing EPAWSS on operational F-15s since July 2022.
The Air Force has been steadily ramping up its efforts to modernize the existing F-15E fleet with the new electronic warfare system, to keep it relevant against advanced threats. EPAWSS provides radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness, and self-defense capabilities, which is intended to allow an F-15 to survive against air defense systems and operate deeper in enemy territory.
Boeing awarded BAE a contract for low-rate initial production of EPAWSS in March 2021, and then in September 2022 Boeing awarded another contract to further expand EPAWSS production.
“BAE Systems is currently on schedule in support of Boeing’s F-15 EPAWSS LRIP production activities and is looking forward to supporting Boeing in the [full rate production] phase of the program,” Kevin Fournier, BAE’s EPAWSS program director, said in an email.
BAE said in April 2024 that the Air Force had finished EPAWSS’ initial operational test and evaluation phase, which helped pave the way for its full rate production contract.
BAE has also worked to improve EPAWSS’ capabilities by using artificial intelligence to drive a concept called cognitive electronic warfare. That concept was tested in May 2023, when a pair of F-15EXs took part in the Northern Edge 2023 exercise in Alaska. The jets participated in 70 sorties during that exercise, where they were confronted with new and unfamiliar electromagnetic threats in a frenetic environment, and EPAWSS’ cognitive EW capabilities had to rapidly react to those new threats.
EPAWSS is currently being flown on F-15 jets at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
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