The Air Force has cleared a new F-15 electronic warfare system for full-rate production and awarded a $615.8 million contract to Boeing to install the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS).
EPAWSS comprises two kits manufactured by BAE Systems, which consist of “integrated radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness, and self-protection solutions,” according to the company. EPAWSS is standard equipment on the new F-15EX Eagle II, but the Air Force is also upgrading 99 F-15E Strike Eagles with the advanced technology, as well.
Boeing is responsible for modifying the F-15 and will be installing the system.
EPAWSS is the technology that turns the F-15EX into what some have called a generation 4.5 fighter, positioning it between conventional fourth-gen F-15s and fifth-gen F-22s and F-35s. The Air Force says EPAWSS can enable equipped jets to “deny, degrade, deceive, disrupt, and defeat radio frequency (RF) and electro-optical/infrared threat systems within contested and highly contested environments.”
Growing competition in the electromagnetic spectrum has set off something of an EW arms race, and the Air Force and its suppliers have been mum about specific EPAWSS capabilities. One EPAWSS capability officials have described is “cognitive” EW—the ability for the system to understand new threats and adapt its response without human input.
EPAWSS includes two kits. Group A kits comprise underlying parts needed to support the upgrade, while Group B kits include EPAWSS’ main components. Boeing’s contract covers “procurement of Group A and Group B kits, system engineering program management, and interim contractor support lay-in material,” the Pentagon said.
Work will be performed at Boeing’s St. Louis facilities, where the F-15EX is built, and in Nashua, N.H., home of BAE’s Electronic Systems Division.
The contract announcement did not specify the number of EPAWSS kits included. It did, however, state that procurement funds for the project will come from fiscal 2023, 2024, and 2025 investments. According to budget documents, the Air Force asked for 26 sets in fiscal 2023, 19 sets in 2024, and 21 in 2025. But documents also showed plans to install 4 sets in 2023, 14 in 2024, and 19 in 2025.
After 2025, the Air Force still plans to buy five more full EPAWSS kits, plus five Group B kits for the test aircraft that were already modified during the system’s development. Fifty-five fighters will get the kits installed over the course of 2026-2028.
Meanwhile, the service also plans to buy 98 to 144 F-15EX fighters—a number that has fluctuated in recent budget cycles. as Air Force and Congressional leaders have debated how many are needed.
Officials have described the F-15’s current EW system as “functionally obsolete” against modern threats, making EPAWSS vital to jam and/or spoof adversaries’ radars and signals to evade detection. The technology shares capabilities developed for the F-35, whose powerful EW system have earned rave reviews. BAE also manufactures that system.