F-16 Fighting Falcon News

September 11, 2012 (by John C. Dench) - ITT Exelis announced it had performed a successful demonstration of its Advanced Defensive Electronic Warfare System (AIDEWS) with F-16s from the Chilean Air Force.
In a cooperative effort between the Fuerza Area de Chile (FACh), U.S. Air Force, and Exelis, a series of multi-ship F-16 missions demonstrated the latest enhancements in the system’s air-to-air electronic warfare capability.

Pilots from Squadron No 3 at Los Condores Air Base, Chile, flew six missions on F-16 block 50 aircraft from July 4 to 18, 2012. Those missions demonstrated the performance of AIDEWS Block 5.2 against multiple airborne fire control radars with overlapping operating frequencies. This flight effort culminates a year of planning and coordination by FACh and U.S. personnel, as well as extensive laboratory and flight testing in the U.S. At the conclusion of flight operations, FACh officials expressed confidence in AIDEWS as a "critical operational asset."

This new, updated Block 5.2 configuration supports the upcoming delivery of combat capable electronic warfare mission data to five countries with AIDEWS equipped F-16s.

"Electronic warfare technology is constantly advancing," said Stuart Altman, Exelis Electronic Systems business area lead for AIDEWS. "These test flight successes demonstrate our commitment to having the best possible technology to ensure our international allies can complete their missions, avoiding and defeating any threats, and returning safely."

AIDEWS is built upon the proven ALQ-211 family of electronic warfare systems now in use to support a broad range of U.S. and allied defense customers on many aircraft.