L-3 G550 contract suggests new RAAF ELINT/SIGINT jet
04 JANUARY, 2016 BY: GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE



The Royal Australian Air Force could be due to receive a new electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft following a recent US Air Force contract award to L-3 Communications.

In a 28 December contract award, the USAF granted a $92.6 contract for an “undefinitized contract action task order” to modify two Gulfstream G550 aircraft.

The work will be performed at the company’s Greenville, Texas factory and be completed on 30 November 2017.

No details were given about the nature of the work, nor the number of aircraft involved. In addition, the RAAF has yet to formally announce a requirement for such an aircraft.

The contracting authority, however, is the 645th Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Known as “Big Safari”, the 645th specialises in special missions aircraft derived from existing platforms.

Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer shows that the RAAF operates 15 Lockheed Martin AP-3C aircraft, of which two serve in the ELINT/SIGINT mission.

The average age of the entire fleet is 33.6 years. Of the ELINT/SIGINT aircraft, the AP-3C bearing serial number A9-659 is 30.4 years, and the one bearing serial A9-657 is 30.9 years.

The eventual retirement of Australia’s broader AP-3C anti-submarine, maritime patrol fleet in favour of the Boeing P-8A and Northrop Grumman Trident unmanned aerial vehicle suggests that a replacement for the two specialised AP-3Cs would also be sought.

Fleets Analyzer shows that six G550s are in service as military aircraft. The Singapore air force has four G550s equipped for the airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) mission, and Israel has two.

In addition, the Italian air force has orders for two G550s equipped for the AEW&C mission.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...nt-jet-420465/