L3Harris Technologies has received an undefinitized contract modification valued at $876,440,942 from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to support the next Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the Next Generation Jammer Low Band (NGJ-LB) program.
The follow-on modification accelerates the development schedule for the NGJ-LB capability, directly serving the EA-18G Growler airborne electronic attack (AEA) fleet operated by the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Under the terms of the agreement, L3Harris will manufacture non-recurring tooling and equipment, produce System Demonstration Test Article (SDTA) pods, advance cybersecurity architectures, and provide logistics, software, and test evaluation support to NAVAIR. Engineered to replace the legacy AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) low-band pods, NGJ-LB utilizes active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology and modular open-system architecture (MOSA) to disrupt and deny long-range, lower-frequency enemy early warning, surveillance, and integrated air defense radars.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: L3HARRIS NEXT GENERATION JAMMER LOW BAND (NGJ-LB) POD
Developer, Lead Integrator & Contracting Command
⚡ Lead Contractor: L3Harris Technologies (Communications and Spectrum Dominance Division — Salt Lake City, UT)
⚡ Sponsoring Contracting Authority: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR — NAS Patuxent River, MD)
⚡ Program Modification Value: $876.44 Million (Undefinitized EMD Contract Modification) 
Primary Deployment Vector & Target Platform
⚡ Primary Airframe Vector: Boeing EA-18G Growler Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) Aircraft
⚡ Force Integration: Operating seamlessly across U.S. Navy, U.S. Joint Forces, and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fleet structures
Electronic Warfare Architecture & Spectral Coverage
💥 Operational Frequency Band: Lower-frequency radio frequency spectrum (VHF/UHF and low-S/C bands) targeting long-range early warning and acquisition radars
💥 Array Technology: High-power Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) paired with solid-state Gallium Nitride (GaN) power amplifiers
💥 Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP): High-EIRP directional beamforming permitting long-range standoff electronic suppression
💥 Target Multiplicity: Capable of generating multiple simultaneous steerable jamming beams against distinct multi-directional radar threats
System Modular Architecture & Avionics
🚀 Open System Design: Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) providing rapid software/hardware insertion capabilities
🚀 Processing Core: High-speed digital receiver/exciter (DRX) and pulse-processing computing units
🚀 Maintenance Framework: Engineered for a true two-level maintenance paradigm to improve fleet availability and reduce sustainment overhead
🚀 Cybersecurity & Resiliency: Integrated multi-layer physical and software cybersecurity architectures against electronic spoofing and cyber exploitation
TIMES OF DEFENCE ASSESSMENT
The $876.4 million EMD modification awarded to L3Harris marks a decisive step toward closing a critical airborne electronic attack vulnerability for the U.S. Navy and allied forces. While the EA-18G Growler fleet successfully achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) pods in late 2024, the low-frequency spectrum remained reliant on the legacy AN/ALQ-99 TJS—a system designed during the Vietnam era plagued by reliability issues and severe power density constraints.
From an engineering perspective, defeating modern Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) requires dominant standoff jamming across lower frequency bands, which peer adversaries utilize for long-range target detection and stealth aircraft tracking. By replacing mechanical transmitters with high-power AESA arrays and modern software-defined processing cores, the L3Harris NGJ-LB pod delivers massively increased Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP). This enables Growler aircrews to engage multiple low-band radar emitters simultaneously from extended standoff ranges, preserving strike force survivability against modern A2/AD threat rings.
