Leonardo To Supply Upgraded Electronic Warfare Training Equipment To JEWCS For $205M

Leonardo has won a €180 million ($205 million) contract to supply new electronic warfare training equipment for NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS).

The company will incorporate technology from its partners Cobham and Elettronica.

The contract was placed by the UK Ministry of Defense as a host nation for NATO JEWCS, the company said in a statement Monday.

The equipment will be delivered in tranches over the next four years.

NATO JEWCS is the Alliance agency responsible for the world of electronic warfare.

When NATO forces go on operations, they expect the enemy to try and disrupt their radars, GPS and communications. Therefore, it is important that NATO Forces experience these effects and practice how to counter them. Part of NATO JEWCS’s remit is to improve armed forces' training by simulating the effects of an enemy’s electronic warfare equipment during exercises and creating a ‘hostile environment’ to train.

Leonardo will be providing representative training equipment across three domains: air, land and maritime. In the air, flexible pod- based EW systems will be supplied for deployment on aircraft, alongside a NATO Anti-Ship Missile Defence Evaluation Facility (NASMDEF).

NASMDEF comprises a set of pods that can be installed on aircraft to simulate anti-ship missiles. They allow forces to train in the use of ‘soft-kill countermeasures’ which are used to protect ships from incoming threats. Cobham will be the company’s principle sub-contractor for these elements.

Elettronica will provide shock-resistant shelters and vehicles will be provided, equipped with modular and flexible EW simulators, stimulators and jamming equipment for land and maritime applications.