The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Air Combat Command (ACC) has received its first EA-37B Compass Call electromagnetic attack aircraft for pilot training, the USAF reported on 27 August 2024.
The aircraft, numbered 19-5591, was received at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) on 23 August and is the first of 10 EA-37Bs the USAF plans to acquire to replace its legacy fleet of EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, of which nine of 14 have been divested to date. A second EA-37B is expected to be delivered for training to Davis-Monthan AFB by the end of 2024.
The EA-37B is a wide-area airborne electromagnetic attack platform derived from a heavily modified Gulfstream G550 airframe.
“The aircraft sustains joint force military advantage in the electromagnetic battlespace and builds a more lethal force by modernising electromagnetic attack capabilities to deny peer competitors’ tactical networks and information ecosystems,” the USAF stated in a press release. “Additionally, the aircraft denies, degrades and disrupts adversary communications, information processing, navigation, radar systems and radio-controlled threats. It also employs offensive counter-information and electromagnetic attack capabilities in support of US and coalition tactical air, surface and special operations forces,” the USAF added.
Aircraft 19-5591, now assigned to the 55th Electronic Combat Group (ECG), will be flown by the 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron and maintained by the Contractor Logistics Support Aircraft Maintenance team at Davis-Monthan AFB. The aircraft will give ACC aircrews their first opportunity to begin pilot mission planning and training.
Although located at Davis-Monthan AFB, the 55th ECG reports to the 55th Wing at Offut AFB in Nebraska. The group is the sole operator of Compass Call aircraft in worldwide contingency operations.
“The EC-130 has served its purpose for years, but this new airframe and its delivery mean that we have a combat-credible threat,” said Colonel Mark Howard, commander of the USAF’s 55th Wing. “The EA-37B, with its increased range, speed and agility, will allow airmen on board the aircraft to make real-time, adaptive, agile decisions for airpower.”
“The EA-37B is the right choice right now because, as we continue to pivot toward great-power competition, we have adversaries that are developing long-range kill-chain ecosystems and anti-access area denial capabilities,” stated Lieutenant General Thomas Hensley, commander of the USAF’s Sixteenth Air Force. “The Compass Call will allow us to do things in the non-kinetic spectrum as well as the electromagnetic spectrum to give us the advantage and not them.”
