NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) team has been awarded the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Edward H. Heinemann Award. The accolade recognizes the team’s innovative decision to remove the Aft Pivot Assembly (APA) from the NGJ-MB pod design, resulting in substantial cost and time savings.
The Edward H. Heinemann Award is presented annually by the Association of Naval Aviation to honor significant advancements in aircraft or aircraft system design within NAVAIR. The award commemorates the contributions of Douglas Aircraft Company’s chief engineer, Edward H. Heinemann, a key figure in naval aircraft design.
The NGJ-MB team, part of the Airborne Electronic Attack Systems Program Office (PMA-234), is tasked with developing a jamming capability to address current and emerging electronic warfare threats. This new system is intended to replace the aging ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) on the EA-18G Growler aircraft.
The APA was initially included in the design to facilitate longitudinal rotation of the pod during high-speed jettison from the EA-18G Growler. However, flight testing revealed that the APA transferred loads from the EA-18G pylon, potentially exceeding the APA’s maximum load capacity.
“This solution was an incredible collaboration between the program office, Naval Warfare Centers, the test community, big Navy, and industry,” said Capt. David Rueter, PMA-234 program manager. “Faced with several cost-prohibitive options to resolve the issue, the team found an innovative solution to remove the APA in its entirety, while still providing a suitable jettison envelope to the fleet that matches the legacy ALQ-99.”
The team undertook a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to ensure the new design met testing timelines. This process involved direct input from fleet warfighters to determine the acceptability of a reduced jettison envelope. Given that the EA-18G Growler will continue to carry both the ALQ-99 TJS pods and the NGJ-MB pods, the team aimed to match the reduced jettison envelope of the ALQ-99.
Within weeks, the team concluded that the NGJ-MB could safely jettison at ALQ-99 airspeeds, a decision supported by the fleet. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) engineers confirmed that this jettison envelope could be achieved through computational fluid dynamics analysis alone, bypassing the need for physical jettison testing. This approach resulted in cost savings of nearly $3 million and allowed the jettison pods to be repurposed for aeromechanical testing and fleet training.
“The new design proved to be extremely effective, with no impact on pod performance, and all initial load concern issues were eliminated,” said Capt. Jared Goul, NGJ-MB deputy program manager. “While this problem and solution may seem small in comparison to much larger projects, it stands as a testament to the highest level of performance from a cross-functional government and contractor team. The speed of analysis and execution was unmatched and sets the standard for what NAVAIR and NAWCAD strive to accomplish.”
Capt. Rueter emphasized the collaborative nature of the effort, noting, “This award recognizes our highly talented, joint cooperative U.S. and Australian team, and highlights the diversity of agencies supporting the development of these critical capabilities for the warfighter.”
The NGJ-MB program benefits from a joint cooperative partnership between PMA-234 and the Royal Australian Air Force, underscoring the international collaboration in advancing electronic warfare capabilities.