Air Force awards $84M deal for electronic warfare simulations

The Air Force has awarded an $84 million contract to Avarint to develop simulations for the testing and evaluation of advanced sensors and fused systems on aircraft against electronic warfare attacks.

Avarint, based in Buffalo, N.Y., will provide an integrated, multi-spectral, virtual battlespace environment under the terms of the five-year contract, with a focus on the sensors and avionics architectures used to fuse information from multiple sources, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The contract, titled Virtual Integrated Electronic Warfare Simulations (VIEWS) II, will support the Force Digital Integrated Air Defense System Upgrades program at the Air Force Test Center’s Electronic Warfare Group, the Air Force said in announcing the award. VIEWS II also will perform integration work under the Advanced Warfare Test and Evaluation Capability program.

Electronic warfare, which involves using the electromagnetic spectrum to impede an adversary by, for example, jamming or spoofing radar and communications, is an increasingly important focus of the Air Force as aircraft and sensor systems become more integrated. As potential enemies incorporate their own EW capabilities, the service’s test and evaluation infrastructure has to keep with new technologies and techniques, the Air Force said.

In November, the Air Force announced another EW-focused program, Spectrum Warfare Assessment Technologies, or SWAT, which will develop multispectral synthetic battlespace simulations to evaluate how EW technologies would perform in a real-world environment. The funding ceiling for that program is expected to be $49.5 million.

Work on VIEWS II will be primarily performed in Buffalo and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., home to the Electronic Warfare Group, and is expected to be complete by March 26, 2020.