On Wednesday, April 1, a situation report released by the United States Central Command listed the aircraft and other assets involved in Operation Epic Fury, with the Air Force’s EA-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft being included for the first time.
This marks the first combat deployment of this type of aircraft.
According to an Air Force situation report, the EA-37B is heavily modified based on the Gulfstream G550 business jet, capable of effectively disrupting communications, warning/targeting radars, and navigation systems in tactical airspace operations. It suppresses enemy air defense systems by disrupting data sharing among weapon systems and command control networks.
Detailed system information on the aircraft is classified.
The EA-37B is set to replace the EC-130 aircraft of the same name. This new twin-engine jet aircraft flies higher, faster, and farther than the four-engine turboprop aircraft that have been in operation since the 1980s.
The Air & Space Forces Magazine reported on April 1 that two EA-37B aircraft took off from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on March 30 and landed at RAF Mildenhall in the UK with the call signs AXIS 41 and AXIS 43.
On March 31, photos of the EA-37 at Mildenhall Air Base surfaced on social media. The markings on the aircraft’s tail indicate its affiliation with Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and show extensive fuselage modifications to accommodate the typical electronic warfare equipment of the EA-37.
The U.S. Air Force currently has 5 EA-37 electronic warfare aircraft and plans to procure a total of 10.
According to Air Combat Command, the EA-37 has a flight speed close to 770 miles per hour, a flight altitude of up to 45,000 feet, and a range of 4,400 nautical miles.
The EA-37 is replacing the aging and dwindling EC-130H fleet of the U.S. Air Force. The EC-130H, converted from C-130 aircraft during the Vietnam War era, has become increasingly difficult to maintain. Over the past decade, the U.S. Air Force’s Compass Call fleet of EC-130 aircraft has been reduced from 15 to 4, but these aircraft have played a crucial role in operations such as combating ISIS and withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.