EW Systems: B-1B

The B-1B fleet is the backbone of the U.S. bomber force, responsible for over half of the bomber assigned target base. The B-1B is a high-speed, swing-wing, high or low altitude bomber that can carry large payloads anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. It has a crew of four.

The fleet was deployed in the mid-1980's as a low altitude, nuclear armed, lone penetrator of the Soviet Union. However, in the early 1990's, the Air Force established a plan to convert the B-1B into a conventional bomber. This plan is called the Conventional Munitions Upgrade Program (CMUP), and is currently underway. The CMUP will deliver improved lethality, maintainability, and survivability enhancements to the entire B-1B fleet through Block system upgrades approximately every two years. A major portion of the CMUP, the Defensive System Upgrade Program (DSUP) was terminated in December 2002. This paves the way for ALQ-161 hardware upgrades which are already underway.

HISTORY OF THE AN/ALQ-161A
The origin of the AN/ALQ-161A program traces back to the B-1A program of the mid-1970's. The initial requirements for the B-1A's Defensive System were established then by the Strategic Air Command (SAC), which was later integrated into the Air Combat Command (ACC) in the early 1990's. Performance requirements were very demanding, and resulted in the highly integrated and very capable AN/ALQ-161A system design which was later expanded in performance as well as maintainability even more for the B-1B.

The system was fielded in the mid-1980's in what was termed the Mod 0 hardware configuration which is still in the field today. Since that time, even though the hardware configuration remains the same, several software modifications have been fielded which dramatically improved system performance and significantly lowered annual operating costs.

In concert with the Air Force, we have continually been involved with the logistical and operational support of the AN/ALQ-161A since its deployment. Repair services, technical support, spares provisioning, asset management, and engineering analyses are some of the types of services we provide to various Air Force agencies involved with the weapon system.

AN/ALQ-161A CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

AN/ALQ-161A SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The AN/ALQ-161A is a totally integrated RF Countermeasures system unlike any other ever produced. Its physical size as well as its performance capacity are unmatched. The system provides 360-degree receive and jamming coverage against a large number of simultaneous threats, and also provides a Tail Warning Function (TWF) to detect incoming missiles from the aft sector. The system is operated by a Weapons System Officer (WSO), one of the four B-1B crew members.

Operation of the AN/ALQ-161A is primarily in an automatic mode, where the system receives, identifies, and jams threat radars instantaneously. However, the WSO can manually intervene when desired. Complete situational awareness is provided on two threat display formats to the WSO to include constant information of threat type, mode, location jamming status, frequency and relative amplitude. Other additional system and/or threat information is available on call to the operator through a correlated joystick that allows him to designate specific threats and request data from either display format. Additional manual functions such as jamming modifications, receiver attenuation changes, and threat characteristic changes are available to the WSO.

The system is highly reprogrammable, on the ground and in the air, which allows it to adapt to any scenario in minimum time. The receiver continually observes the entire environment to detect most conventional threats at a moderate sensitivity. For those emitters that require higher sensitivity for detection, the receiver uses its directed high sensitivity search routine that is programmed by the user for maximum effectiveness.

The Tail Warning Function provides a Pulsed Doppler radar function to detect any missile threatening the bomber from the aft sector. If a missile is detected, the system provides immediate warning to the crew for evasive action, and can automatically dispense RF and IR decoys to counter the threat.

In summary, the AN/ALQ-161A was specifically designed for the B-1B airframe, and provides the protection it needs to effectively penetrate hostile threat areas at high or low altitudes, without the need for support aircraft. Its functional redundancy ensures graceful degradation in the event of hardware failure, and its programmability ensures rapid adaptation to any scenario worldwide.

The AN/ALQ-161A with its planned and funded software and hardware mods, along with the ALE-50 System which is fielded on the B-1B, provides the aircraft with a very powerful defensive combination. Since the AN/ALQ-161A/ALE-50 combination is planned to be on the B-1B indefinately. The USAF has planned significant improvements to both systems.

Additionally, we are involved with the USAF in an effort to further reduce the cost of ownership of the AN/ALQ-161A

 

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