Navy awards Raytheon $1B contract for the first increment of the Next Generation Jammer

The Navy has awarded Raytheon a $1 billion cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the first increment of the Next Generation Jammer.

The contract includes the design, manufacture, integration, demonstration and test of 15 NGJ engineering development model pods to support the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase. Raytheon will also manufacture 14 MGJ aero-mechanical test pods, which will be used to verify aircraft flying qualities and pod safe separation from the host aircraft; provide equipment need for system integration laboratories; and mature manufacturing processes, according to an April 13 contract announcement.

On April 5, NGJ was approved to enter the EMD phase by Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall. The Navy will continue developing the jammer during the EMD phase, with the system-level critical design review in early-to-mid-2017, according to a service statement.

The Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) will replace the AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming system currently installed on EA-18G Growler aircraft. The Navy is requesting $577 million in fiscal year 2017 to continue developing NGJ Increment One.