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15 EW: From Federated Analog Systems to the Integrated Digital EPAWSS Suite: $10 Billion
Northrop Grumman’s AN/ALQ-135 is part of the legacy TEWS (Tactical Electronic Warfare System) federated analog EW system on Boeing/McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighters. TEWS development began in 1971. The F-15 TEWS consists of the AN/ALR-56 radar warning receiver (RWR), the ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures System (ICS), the AN/ALQ-128 electronic warfare warning system, and the AN/ALE-45 Counter-Measures Dispenser System (CMDS). Production of the updated ALQ-135M likely continued until 2013, for South Korea.
In October 2008, Boeing chose BAE Systems to develop the AN/ALQ-239 Digital Electronic Warfare Suite (DEWS) for international F-15 users, in particular Saudi Arabia and Japan, leveraging technologies and common modules developed for BAE’s F-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) EW suites. In September 2013, DEWS was installed on a Saudi F-15SA Strike Eagle pending flight tests. But with South Korea’s choice of the F-35 rather than additional F-15s (Boeing’s Silent Eagle), the only DEWS buyers were Saudi Arabia and the Qatar buy of 36 F-15QAs, finally contracted in December 2017.
In late 2013, the USAF planned to issue an RfP in 2014 for the AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) program, planned as a new EW system for USAF F-15C/D/Es to replace the TEWS. At least two systems were offered for EPAWSS: BAE Systems’ DEWS and a Northrop Grumman system based on the F-35 JSF and Block 60 F-16 Falcon Edge EW system for the UAE.
In October 2015, BAE Systems announced it had been selected by Boeing to develop and manufacture EPAWSS for more than 400 F-15Es and F-15C/Ds, as part of a $4 billion dollar program. In November 2016, the USAF awarded the four-year, $478.8 million EPAWSS EMD Contract to Boeing and BAE Systems.
In December 2021, Japan allocated funds for its JSI (F-15) upgrade program, to be prime contracted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in partnership with Boeing, to include the first export version of EPAWSS, rather than DEWS.
In February 2026, Boeing was finally awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract for the upgrade of Korea’s F-15K 59-aircraft Slam Eagle fleet, with production expected to continue until December 2037. The F-15Ks will receive new Advanced Display Core Processor II (ADCP II) mission system computers, AN/APG-82(V)1 radars, and the ALQ-250 EPAWSS, in a configuration similar to the USAF F-15EX.
In June 2024, the first operational F-15EX fighter jet was officially delivered to the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing.
In October 2024, F-15 EPAWSS Full Rate Production (FRP) was approved by the US.
In November 2025, The US Air Force 10-year tactical aircraft procurement plan envisioned adding additional manufacturing capacity for the F-15EX, to take production for the USAF up to 36 per year rather than the legacy goal of 24.
And in April 2026, following several years of back-and-forth plans for F-15EX production numbers, and immediately following several legacy F-15s shot down in the war on Iran, the USAF’s FY27 budget increased planned production to buy a total of 267 F-15EX Eagle II fighters, more than double previous projections. In FY27, the USAF will buy 24 F-15EXs at a cost of $3 billion, “to begin to recapitalize the aging F-15E fleet.”
Also in April 2026, the USAF’s FY27 budget documents discussed the F-15E EPAWSS procurement, aligned with the Air Force's Future Force Structure, which supports 99 EPAWSS-equipped F-15E aircraft. The Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and Full Rate Production (FRP) phases overlapped in years FY24 through FY26, providing a seamless transition to maintain the production schedule. The LRIP/FRP contract overlap allowed for procurement of long lead material required to maintain a consistent aircraft flow at both modification lines.
However, in early 2026 reports indicated that the contractor-led F-15 EPAWSS modifications at Boeing, San Antonio, TX, “have consistently underperformed on cost, schedule, and quality.” Therefore, starting in FY27, the program is pivoting the entire remaining F-15E EPAWSS modification/installation effort solely to the USAF’s dedicated organic, in-house “EPAWSS Speedline” at Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex (WR-ALC) at Robins AFB, GA. Beginning in June 2026, the “Speedline” is planned to significantly accelerate EPAWSS installation and fielding.
And in August 2026, The US Air Force awarded Boeing a sole-source indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract for “F-15 Eagle Crest” to fund F-15 production, upgrades and sustainment, and other programs for US and international F-15 customers. This massive new contract vehicle is to be worth up to $131.2 billion, covering essentially all F-15 funding through August 2037, including all future F-15 agreements for both the US Air Force and Foreign Military Sales (FMS).
Whoever completes installations, the F-15 EW programs in this report combined should be worth about a billion dollars annually for most years in our ten-year forecast period. Over the next decade, Teal Group forecasts EPAWSS and related systems will be worth about $9.5 billion.
F-35 EW Suite: The Best Ever… with Almost 3x F-15EX EW Suite Funding
The F-35 JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) EW (Electronic Warfare) Suite (now designated AN/ASQ-239) was designed by BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman. It integrates with the stealthy JSF design with low-observable sensors, including within-wing-mounted antennas. The AN/ALE-70 Towed Decoy is a countermeasures dispenser system carried internally, providing self-protection against radar guided missiles, as well as SEAD/DEAD (Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses) “Wild Weasel” capabilities. The ASQ-239 F-35 EW Suite contract included options that would value the program at up to $7 billion.
In July 2005, BAE Systems began in-house flight testing of the EW system, with airborne tests on surrogate aircraft beginning in 2009.
In January 2009, the first F-35 JSF with a complete mission system was completed by Lockheed Martin.
In August 2016, the USAF declared F-35A IOC.
According to JSF prime Lockheed Martin in 2016, “Advanced electronic warfare capabilities enable the F-35 to locate and track enemy forces, jam radio frequencies, and disrupt attacks with unparalleled precision.” All three variants of the F-35 carry active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars with sophisticated electronic attack capabilities, providing false targets, network attack, advanced jamming, and algorithm-packed data streams. Combined with the ASQ-239, this system allows the F-35 to reach well-defended targets and suppress enemy radars. In addition, the ASQ-239 system provides fully integrated radar warning, targeting support, and self-protection, to detect and defeat surface and airborne threats. “While F-35 is capable of stand-off jamming for other aircraft – providing 10 times the effective radiated power of any legacy fighter – F-35s can also operate in closer proximity to the threat (‘stand-in’) to provide jamming power many multiples that of any legacy fighter.”
By mid-2019, F-35 EW Suite “concurrent” development and production continued, with continuing problems and ever-increasing funding for fixes, as the F-35 JSF full-rate production (FRP) decision approached.
In early 2023, BAE announced it had delivered 1,200 F-35 EW systems to date.
BAE Systems’ ASQ-239 electronic protection (EP) and electronic attack (EA) system is the legacy EW suite on F-35, but BAE has developed a next-generation suite, sometimes known as “The Block 4 EW System,” for integration on Lot 17 and beyond F-35s. Additional EA and EP capabilities are also being fielded with the AN/APG-85 radar. The F-35 EW suite is probably the most highly classified of these three major F-35 electronic system suites, however, with details of new capabilities largely unavailable.
In April 2023, BAE Systems received a $491 million contract from Lockheed Martin to produce ASQ-239 electronic warfare suites for the Block 4 version of the F-35 fighter, following another award for $493 million in December 2022 for ASQ-239, “development and maturation of the Block 4 EW baseline.”
However, the F-35 Tech Refresh 3 (TR-3), necessary for full ASQ-239 performance, was planned to be ready in 2024 but was still not in service in early 2026. BAE’s updated ASQ-239 EW suite is considered one of the centerpieces of the F-35 Block 4 upgrade, with the new ASQ-239 operating in both the radio-frequency and infrared parts of the spectrum and including, “significantly upgraded hardware and software that improves sensing and signal-processing capabilities,” according to BAE Systems. The improved sensors will increase the F-35’s ability to detect “difficult-to-observe threats” as well as process more threats simultaneously.
By March 2023 according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), just 55% of the Pentagon’s F-35 fleet was mission capable due to a lack of depot capacity, insufficient supply of spare parts, and “overreliance on contractors.” US MC rates were targeted at 90% for the F-35A and 85% for B and C variants, clearly and widely missed.
Nonetheless, in March 2023 the US FY24 defense budget request significantly increased F-35 acquisition over what the previous year’s budget had planned.
In March 2024, 23 years after the start of the JSF development program, the DoD finally approved full-rate production of the F-35. By this time, Lockheed Martin had produced more than 990 F-35s.
But the F-35 program continued to unravel (except for many new European buys following the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war), and in June 2025 the FY26 US administration budget request initially included only 47 F-35s, significantly below the 74 projected earlier.
In January 2026, following the TR-3/Block 4 debacle (see Teal’s Military Electronics Briefing for full details), Lockheed Martin announced that it had delivered 191 F-35s in 2025. That included 93 new production jets, with the remainder being previously built jets that had been parked awaiting software and other upgrades. In February 2026, Lockheed announced that all the parked jets had been delivered and that going forward all deliveries would be from the production line. They reiterated a goal of 156 deliveries per year.
By early 2026, F-35 Lot 17 production had begun, with major upgrades being fielded to nearly all major JSF sensors and systems. The long-anticipated multi-service Block 4 modernization effort includes more than 80 new classified and unclassified capabilities to be delivered incrementally over various production lots. Block 4 will bring the all-new AN/APG-85 radar (eventually), a new A-EOTS and DAS EO/IR suite for improved situational awareness, and a greatly upgraded AN/ASQ-239 EW suite. Many details and capabilities remain classified, but all three of the F-35’s primary sensor/electronics programs will now essentially be new.
Teal Group forecasts F-35 JSF EW Suite funding will be worth close to $3 billion every year through the end of the 2020s, but this annual peak will then drop off if air forces cut back F-35 orders (and total procurement numbers) sooner than planned today, as we suspect is likely. But in our ten-year forecast period, the vital EW Suite for the F-35 will be worth more than $26 billion overall – one of the largest, if not the largest, electronic warfare programs in the world. And yes, again beating the extremely capable F-15EX by about 3x in total funding over the next decade.