SALT LAKE CITY - L3Harris Technologies is receiving an $876.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, undefinitized contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue development of the Next Generation Jammer Low Band (NGJ-LB) airborne electronic-attack system for the EA-18G Growler.
The $876,440,942 P00021 modification to contract N0001924C0061 adds scope for non-recurring tooling and equipment and associated labor; delivery of system demonstration test article pods; additional cybersecurity and system-security development; and product, logistics, test and evaluation, and software support for the Navy and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
NGJ-LB is an external-carriage airborne electronic-attack capability for the EA-18G Growler and is the low-frequency increment of the Navy's broader Next Generation Jammer program. NAVAIR says NGJ uses digital, software-based, and electronically scanned-array technologies to disrupt, deny, and degrade adversary air-defense and ground-communications systems, while enabling hardware and software updates as threats evolve. NGJ is being developed in frequency-specific increments to augment and ultimately replace the Growler's legacy ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System. NGJ-LB remains in the engineering and manufacturing development phase.
Related: RTX Raytheon to build Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare (EW) airborne jammer
Open system architecture
L3Harris says its NGJ-LB design uses a modular, open-system architecture intended to simplify maintenance and enable technology upgrades. The company received a $587.4 million EMD contract in 2024 to design, produce, and deliver electronic-warfare test articles and fleet prototypes, including eight operational prototype pods, 11 pod simulators, four jettison mass-model pods, two captive mass models, two mission-system prototypes, and two technique-development systems. The contract also included engineering support, integration, testing, and maintenance.
The current modification also expands the program's security development work and adds test and support activities. The scope reflects the software-intensive nature of the NGJ-LB system, including cybersecurity and system-security development alongside hardware, integration, test, logistics, and software support.
Power-generation hardware is another element of the pod's development. Marotta Controls announced in September that it is supporting NGJ-LB with technology for the ram-air-turbine power-generation assembly, including the turbine speed-control system. Marotta is providing the speed-control system under a subcontract with CFD Research Corp., and it is also receiving a direct award from L3Harris for additional NGJ-LB work.
Related: How do counter-drone systems operate when GPS is jammed?
NGJ-LB is a cooperative U.S.-Australian program, with the capability being developed for the U.S. Navy and RAAF. Both countries operate the EA-18G Growler.
Work on the modification will be performed at locations in Utah, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado, California, Australia, New York, and Texas, and is expected to be completed in fiscal 2031. The Navy will obligate $3.65 million in fiscal 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds and $ 23.04 million in RAAF cooperative funds at the time of award. The modification was not competitively procured. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
