USAF Needs Capabilities of B-52 SOJ, Groups Warn

By MICHAEL FABEY
Defense News Staff Writer
January 6, 2006

The Congressional Electronic Warfare (EW) Working Group says U.S. Air Force plans to use the B-52 as a stand-off jammer — the B-52 SOJ — may be dropped to save money, a move the organization calls a major mistake.
 
“Given the clear need for a robust airborne electronic attack capability, it’s alarming to hear that the B-52 SOJ may be given the ax in the forthcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, especially without a clear alternative to substitute the capability that the B-52 SOJ would bring to the table,” the working group said in a late December briefing statement. The working group was established by Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., to study U.S. military electronic warfare issues.

To be fitted with wing-tip jamming pods weighing up to 2,260 kilograms, the venerable bombers are the estimated $3 billion centerpiece of the service’s plan to rebuild its ability to protect strike aircraft from surface-to-air missiles and other threats by the middle of the next decade.

“If the Air Force decides to cancel the B-52 SOJ, without a viable alternative ready to go, the services will be faced with too few electronic attack assets to effectively counter future adversaries,” the EW Working Group said in its statement.

The Association of Old Crows, an international EW organization, shares those concerns “We are very concerned about the Air Force’s pending decision to cut this program without any clear plans in place to bridge this capability gap,” a statement from the group said.

Other EW analysts say the cancellation calls into question what the Air Force plans to do about electronic warfare.

“The specific platform that replaces the B-52 SOJ is probably less important than whether the platform is in fact replaced,” said Christopher Bolkcom, aviation expert for the Congressional Research Service, the public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress. “EW advocates have questioned the Air Force’s commitment to this mission area.”

Electronic Warfare Working Group

Congressman Joe Pitts, Founder and Chairman

420 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202 225-2411 phone    202 225-2013 fax