Boeing develops new Beowulf electronic warfare system for US Navy EA-18G Growler fleet.

Boeing to develop and integrate the new AN-ALQ-264(V) Beowulf electronic warfare system on EA-18G Growler aircraft following a $489 million contract with the U.S. Navy.

The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a $489 million contract to develop and integrate the AN-ALQ-264(V) Beowulf electronic warfare system on EA-18G Growler aircraft. The program funds engineering, hardware procurement, and testing to improve the Navy’s carrier-based airborne electronic attack capability in future attack operations. Integration work and testing are planned through 2030.

To learn more about the EA-18G Growler missions: U.S. EA-18G Electronic Attack Jets Suppressed Venezuelan Air Defenses During Special Forces Operation

The AN/ALQ-264(V) Beowulf will likely improve how the EA-18G Growler detects, processes, and coordinates electronic warfare operations across its sensors and jamming systems. (Picture source: U.S. Navy)

On March 13, 2026, the U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a not-to-exceed $489,306,966 cost, undefinitized order to support the development and integration of the AN/ALQ-264(V) Beowulf electronic warfare system for the EA-18G Growler aircraft. The order, which finances engineering work, system integration, testing assets, and hardware required to install the capability on the Growler, forms part of the modernization of the electronic attack architecture used by the U.S. Navy’s carrier-based electronic warfare fleet. The EA-18G Growler serves as the Navy’s dedicated airborne electronic attack aircraft and conducts missions including suppression of enemy air defenses, escort jamming for strike aircraft, and electromagnetic spectrum operations during carrier air wing deployments.

Integration of the AN/ALQ-264(V) upgrade is intended to strengthen how the EA-18G Growler detects, processes, and disrupts adversary electromagnetic emissions during combat operations. The contract finances non-recurring engineering activities and the procurement of hardware required to design and integrate the AN/ALQ-264(V) system. Equipment included in the order consists of four Beowulf A-Kits and four Gunbay Pallet A-Kits used for aircraft installation and evaluation during integration testing. The procurement also includes twelve Beowulf B-Kits intended for installation within aircraft systems supporting operational configuration of the electronic warfare capability. Fifteen sensor control unit B-Kits form part of the system architecture responsible for coordinating electronic signal processing and sensor interaction.

Nine power control unit B-Kits are included to regulate electrical distribution and system power management within the aircraft. Additional support equipment is provided to enable the development, integration, and testing of the system across multiple engineering phases. The largest share of the activity, representing 61 percent of the work, will take place in Baltimore, Maryland. Engineering and system integration tasks conducted at this site support the development and testing of electronic warfare subsystems associated with the program. An additional 28 percent of the effort will occur in St. Louis, Missouri, where Boeing maintains facilities involved in aircraft systems engineering and integration work. The remaining 11 percent of program activities will take place in Bethpage, New York, where additional engineering and system support tasks will be conducted.

At the time of contract award, the Navy obligated $33,988,353 in fiscal 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funding, while the completion of development and integration activities under this order is scheduled for February 2030. The AN/ALQ-264(V) Beowulf, about which very little is publicly known, belongs to the AN/ALQ designation family used for airborne electronic countermeasure equipment within the U.S. military aviation. Systems within this designation category perform functions related to electronic attack and electromagnetic spectrum operations. These include radar jamming, signal disruption, and interference against hostile communications and sensor networks.

The AN/ALQ-264(V) Beowulf, therefore, appears to be an internal electronic warfare subsystem likely engineered to modernize the EA-18G Growler’s onboard electronic attack architecture and improve how the aircraft coordinates detection and jamming functions during combat missions. The system is designed to integrate with the aircraft’s existing electronic warfare sensors and transmitters rather than replacing external jamming pods directly, suggesting that it may act as a processing and control node within the aircraft’s mission systems. The Beowulf system is therefore likely intended to expand processing capacity, manage signal analysis, and coordinate the employment of jamming equipment such as the AN/ALQ-99 pods and the newer AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer systems.

Hardware elements identified for the program, including sensor control units and power control units, indicate the presence of dedicated processing modules and electrical management components integrated within the aircraft. The existence of both A-Kits and B-Kits further suggests that part of the system consists of aircraft-installed infrastructure combined with removable electronic equipment modules used for mission operations. Within the electronic warfare architecture of the Growler, a subsystem of this type would manage signal processing, threat identification, and control of jamming resources, allowing the aircraft crew to coordinate suppression of enemy radar and communications networks more efficiently during escort jamming or stand-off electronic attack missions.

The EA-18G Growler entered service with the United States Navy in 2009 as the successor to the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. Derived from the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, the Growler is optimized for electronic warfare missions conducted in support of carrier strike groups and joint operations. The aircraft operates with a two-person crew responsible for flight operations and electronic warfare management. Its mission profile includes escort jamming for strike aircraft approaching defended targets and stand-off electronic attack from outside the engagement envelope of certain surface-to-air missile systems. The EA-18G Growler currently employs a layered electronic warfare architecture combining sensors, receivers, and jamming transmitters designed to detect, analyze, and disrupt hostile electromagnetic emissions.

The central sensor of the system is the AN/ALQ-218 wideband receiver installed on the aircraft’s wingtips, which functions as a radar warning receiver and electronic support system capable of detecting, identifying, and locating radio-frequency emitters such as surveillance radars or missile guidance systems. This receiver continuously scans the electromagnetic spectrum and allows the crew to determine the location and characteristics of hostile transmitters. Once threats are detected, the aircraft can employ its AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming pods mounted under the wings to generate high-power radio-frequency interference intended to overwhelm or deceive enemy radar and communications systems.

The ALQ-99 system integrates receivers, transmitters, and signal processors capable of intercepting and automatically jamming detected emissions across multiple frequency bands. The Growler can carry up to five jamming pods to cover different portions of the spectrum and provide both escort jamming for strike formations and stand-off jamming from outside defended airspace. Additional systems include the AN/ALQ-227 communications countermeasures set and interference cancellation systems that allow the aircraft to disrupt hostile radio communications while maintaining its own voice communications with friendly aircraft.

Electronic warfare operations conducted by aircraft such as the EA-18G focus on controlling the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes radar, communications, navigation signals, and other radio-frequency emissions used by military forces. Military doctrine divides these activities into three operational functions: electronic support to detect and locate emitters, electronic attack to disrupt or destroy those emissions, and electronic protection to safeguard friendly systems from interference. In air operations, this capability enables strike aircraft to approach defended targets while reducing exposure to radar-guided missiles and integrated air defense networks.

By interfering with early warning radars and command networks, electronic warfare aircraft can delay detection of incoming aircraft or degrade the quality of tracking data used by missile batteries. This reduces the effectiveness of air defense networks without requiring the physical destruction of every radar, battery, or command node. Control of the electromagnetic spectrum, therefore, became a prerequisite for achieving air superiority and enabling large-scale air operations. During the Vietnam War, American aircraft such as the EB-66 and later the EA-6B Prowler jammed North Vietnamese radar systems supporting SA-2 surface-to-air missiles; by the later stages of the campaign, only one missile out of forty-eight launched achieved a hit.

In the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. electronic attack aircraft again played a central role in suppressing Iraqi air defenses before and during coalition air strikes. A total of 39 EA-6Bs participated in the campaign, flying more than 1,600 sorties and firing over 150 AGM-88 anti-radiation missiles against radar sites and communications nodes across Iraq’s integrated air defense system. These operations disrupted surveillance radars and forced air defense operators to shut down emitters to avoid detection and targeting, which in turn reduced the ability of missile batteries to track incoming coalition fighter jets. By developing electronic warfare systems such as the AN/ALQ-264(V) Beowulf, the U.S. Navy wants to ensure that the EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft continues to create such operational windows for strike aircraft in the future.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.