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F-111 aircraft carry the most extensive electronic warfare suite fitted to a tactical aircraft. The large ALR-62 RHAW is complemented by a range of homing/warning receivers such as the ALR-31139/41 and an infra-red tail warning system. Defensive jamming is provided by the ALQ-941137 jammer which is effective against pulse mode and continuous wave threats and additional ALQ-119 or ALQ-131 jamming pods can be carried on an aft ventral centreline attachment. Newer pods such as the ALQ-131 are modular which allows a pod to be tailored to a particular threat environment which threat specific hardware modules and software.
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Radar Warning Receivers and Defensive Electronic Countermeasures
Born in the darkest hours of the Blitz, weaned during the night bombing offensive and matured in the skies above Hanoi. Electronic Warfare has become a military discipline within itself with a pervasive influence upon the strategy, tactics and technology of modern warfare. No more is this evident than in the modern air battle where Electronic Warfare (EW) drives penetration strategy and tactics, while fundamentally influencing airframe and weapon system design.
The outcomes of the last three major air battles, the Falklands, the Bekaa Valley and the Tripoli Raid were largely determined by the application of EW techniques with the losers suffering in every instance overwhelming defeat.
Not surprisingly EW has acquired an image of being ‘black box magic’ which is in reality hardly deserved as the vast majority of EW techniques involve no more than clever application of established electrical engineering principles to the problem of defeating the opponent’s electronic equipment. This aspect of the electronic battle is often underplayed but imposes an implicit need for restricting access to weapon system design parameters and constraints. Understanding the inner workings of an opponent’s design allows you to defeat it regardless of its initial development cost. There is no such thing as a weapon system without a vulnerability; ample illustration to this point is given by the USAF meticulously digging pieces of a Stealth fighter out of a Californian hillside.
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