The Pentagon’s top weapons tester said the Navy’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-band (NGJ-MB) has significant risks due to reliability issues and a lack of validated models and data.
“Hardware reliability issues and a lack of validated or accredited digital models, which are derived from operational test data and are required to supplement NGJ-MB operational flight test evaluation, present a significant risk to NGJ-MB [initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E)],” the FY ‘23 annual report from the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) said.
The report was released on Feb. 2.
The NGJ program seeks to improve on and replace the legacy ALQ-99 tactical jammer used by the EA-18G Growler fleet against enemy air defense and communications systems. The jammer consists of two pods mounted under both aircraft wings and integrated with the AN/ ALQ-218 electronic warfare system.
The Navy has separated it into low-, mid- and high-band frequency increments, with the mid-band as the first increment.
The Navy approved NGJ-MB for Milestone C in 2021, authorizing low-rate initial production (LRIP), and the FY 22 DOT&E report said LRIP pods were undergoing integrated testing while operational testing was set to start in May 2023 (Defense Daily, June 30, 2021).
In July 2021, the Navy awarded RTX [RTX] the initial LRIP Lot One contract for the first three NGJ-MB ship sets, with the initial orders expected to be delivered by October 2023 (Defense Daily, July 6, 2021).
However, “system immaturity delayed operational testing indefinitely,” this report said.
Results from the April 2023 Operational Test Readiness Review (OTRR) led the DOT&E to not approve the program to enter IOT&E “due to system deficiencies causing ongoing configuration changes and the lack of an IOT&E test plan.”
DOT&E said it told the Navy its concerns that the program needs to correct deficiencies to ensure the jammer used under testing is “operationally representative and then conduct a follow-up OTRR to receive approval to begin IOT&E.”
Previously, in 2022, the FY ‘21 DOT&E report said the NGJ-MB faced significant operational effectiveness and suitability challenges going into the IOT&E period (Defense Daily, Jan. 28, 2022).
“The Navy needs to overcome several challenges to demonstrate the NGJ-MB’s operational effectiveness and suitability as it proceeds to IOT&E. The lack of validated or accredited digital models needed to supplement NGJ-MB operational flight testing present a significant risk to NGJ‑MB IOT&E,” the FY ‘21 annual report said.
In the latest report, the weapons tester said in May 2023 the Navy program submitted a combined [Software Configuration Set] H18 and NGJ-MB IOT&E test plan, “but has yet to conduct the follow-up OTRR after addressing deficiency corrections.”
The DOT&E-approved original Test and Evaluation Master Plan planned to integrate NGJ-MB into the Software Configuration Set (SCS) H16 upgrade, which is currently fielded on EA-18Gs, but delays in the jammer led the Navy to push that to the H18 upgrade.
The Navy decided to combine the Growler’s SCS H18 upgrade and NGJ-MB into one operational test plan in FY ‘23, but DOT&E noted the program “has yet to conduct operational test as DOT&E awaits the follow-up [Operational Test Readiness Review (OTRR)].”
DOT&E argued the lack of validated or accredited digital models to supplement NGJ-MB operational flight testing “will reduce the data available to evaluate effectiveness during IOT&E.”
The Navy then began a series of integrated test events in an operationally representative environment “focused on resolving identified deficiencies and collecting data for modeling and simulation (M&S) while demonstrating the system has matured enough to conduct operationally relevant test flights.”
However, DOT&E said the testing has not been enough due to system maturity issues.
The report also said in July 2023 the Navy was scheduled to conduct an integrated test event in an operationally representative environment provided by the Nevada Test and Training Range at Nellis Air Force Base, but it did not go forward as scheduled due to the immaturity.
“Both NGJ-MB hardware and software, along with the EA-18G SCS H18, require significant maturation and removal of high priority problems to support future NGJ-MB operational test.”
DOT&E recommended the Navy submit an adequate IOT&E test plan for DOT&E approval; improve system maturity, stability, availability and reliability of the operational test-ready LRIP pods and EA-18G SCS H18 that can support IOT&E “as soon as practical;” continue to develop and assess digital models of integrated test events in a representative environment to ensure enough data for M&S verification, validation and accreditation; and use data from the NGJ-MB SCS H18 integrated test events to demonstrate the systems maturity and conduct the follow-up OTRR.