On Monday, April 20, 2026, U.S. corporation RTX announced that its subsidiary Raytheon had delivered the first ordered batch of AN/ALQ-149 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare pods to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). They will equip EA-18G Growler electronic warfare and air defense suppression aircraft.
Photo: RTX
The NGJ-MB, developed jointly by the U.S. Navy and the RAAF, uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna technology to collect electromagnetic signals and jam enemy targeting and radar stations at greater ranges on frequencies from 2 GHz to 6 GHz.
The delivery took place in September 2025, and the RAAF presented the first of the pods in December, but the manufacturer has only now confirmed the fact. The first four sets, comprising eight pods, were ordered for production on November 26, 2024. Further deliveries will continue throughout 2026. Raytheon is also providing on-site implementation and maintenance support in Australia to help maintain the system’s operational readiness.
„This delivery marks a significant milestone in our collaborative efforts with the U.S. Navy and RAAF on NGJ,” said Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon. „This advanced technology will greatly enhance RAAF’s electronic warfare capabilities, safeguarding vital assets on its aircraft and more effectively neutralizing adversary technologies across a wide range of missions.”
The RAAF operates 12 EA-18G Growler aircraft, ordered in 2013 for 2.2 billion USD, with deliveries taking place from February to July 2017. They achieved initial operational capability on April 29, 2019. The aircraft are operated by No. 6 Squadron RAAF and are stationed, together with 24 two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole aircraft from No. 1 Squadron RAAF and No. 82 Wing Training Flight, at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland. One Growler was additionally purchased in 2021 to replace the aircraft lost in a 2018 crash.
Photo: US Navy
The first prototype of the original version of the NGJ-MB pod was delivered by the manufacturer to the U.S. Navy for testing on August 2, 2019. Then, on September 27, 2024, pre-production modified NGJ-MBX (Expansion) pods were ordered.
The integration of the EA-18G with the AN/ALQ-249(V)1 is part of a broader modernization of these aircraft under the Growler Capability Modification (GCM) program to the Block II standard, replacing the currently used AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS).
Ultimately, the aircraft will receive new-generation NGJ electronic warfare pods in three variants: the low-band NGJ-LB (Next Generation Jammer Low-Band) from L3 Technologies and Northrop Grumman, the mid-band NGJ-MB discussed here, and the high-band NGJ-HB (Next Generation Jammer High-Band) from Lockheed Martin. With the three pods, EA-18G aircraft will be able to conduct jamming across the entire radio-frequency spectrum from 100 MHz to 18 GHz: NGJ-LB from 100 MHz to 2 GHz, NGJ-MB from 2 GHz to 6 GHz, and NGJ-HB from 6 to 18 GHz.
The AN/ALQ-249(V)1 pods on U.S. Growlers made their combat debut in 2024, when the VAQ-133 “Wizards” Electronic Attack Squadron from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) carrier strike group took part in strikes against pro-Iranian Houthi targets in Yemen.