New combat pod system wakes up with software updates during test

 New combat pod system wakes up with software updates during test

The operational assessment of the Angry Kitten Combat Pod electronic attack system in April demonstrated rapid reprogramming between flights. This combat pod, an updated version of the Georgia Tech Research Institute Angry Kitten pod, simulates enemy electronic attack signals during Air Force test and training missions. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office funded this operational assessment as part of the App-Enabled Rapidly Reprogrammable Electronic warfare/electromagnetic Systems experiment campaign, or AERRES. Get more news about Pod System,you can vist our website!
The Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force tested the Angry Kitten electronic countermeasures combat training pod on board an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 53rd Wing at the Joint Preflight Integration of Munitions and Electronic Systems, or J-PRIMES, test facility at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Oct. 18, 2021, through Nov. 5, 2021. The goal of the test was to characterize the interoperability of the combat pod with other F-16 systems, test officials said. (U.S. Air Force photo / Tech. Sgt. John McRell)
The Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force tested the Angry Kitten electronic countermeasures combat training pod on board an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 53rd Wing at the Joint Preflight Integration of Munitions and Electronic Systems, or J-PRIMES, test facility at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Oct. 18, 2021, through Nov. 5, 2021. The goal of the test was to characterize the interoperability of the combat pod with other F-16 systems. (U.S. Air Force photo / Tech. Sgt. John McRell)

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Keith Kirk, the experiment program manager, said AERRES is assessing the operational utility and competitive advantages of open hardware/software architectures and standards to provide app-enabled electronic warfare/electromagnetic systems solutions. He said Air Force leaders noticed the test because they expect to employ more open architecture software to allow agile changes in future systems.

“Over the past four years, it has been well documented in the strategic guidance that we have to do this,” Kirk said. “This is the first operational assessment of a potentially deployable and combat-ready electronic warfare system for fighter aircraft moving in that direction.”

Given the success of the pod in training and demonstrated ability to be reprogrammed, Air Combat Command recommended four pods be converted into combat pods to provide attack capabilities against enemy radio frequency threat systems, instead of simulating them.

The experiment aimed to show how this new government-owned architecture could be used to better counter threat systems that use software-defined radars to quickly change their radio frequency signature to make it more difficult for U.S. aircraft to identify and attack them.

Historically, Air Force electronic warfare systems were designed to have tightly coupled software and hardware, which were effective, but also took considerable time and funding to update. The Angry Kitten architecture provides greater flexibility to update or reprogram the system as the electronic warfare environment changes.

Similar to a smartphone and digital app store, Kirk said today’s electronic warfare/electromagnetic systems need to be quickly updated or loaded with new software to defeat complex emitters and constantly changing electromagnetic systems threats.

“The hardware and software stovepipe solutions prevalent throughout the Air Force enterprise significantly impair the Air Force’s ability to quickly adapt and defeat new emerging electromagnetic systems threats,” he said. “AERRES is demonstrating open hardware/software solutions that allow platforms to upgrade capability by swapping hardware modules and/or software apps to change electromagnetic systems offensive and defensive effects.”