Electronic warfare suite for F-15 Eagle fighter jets up 39% - programme violated the Nunn-McCurdy amendment for the second time

The US Department of Defence has again announced that the cost of the electronic warfare kit has increased by 39%. The programme violated the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment for the second time.

Here's What We Know

The Nunn-McCurdy Amendment is a legal mechanism that was introduced in the National Defence Authorisation Act in 1982. In simple terms, the Pentagon must close a programme when spending increases by 50% of the baseline.

In the case of the electronic warfare suite, the costs increased because of the US Air Force's decision to reduce its procurement volumes. The military service decided to purchase only 99 EPAWSS (Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System) for the F-15E Eagle instead of 217.

The breach of the amendment is due to the fact that the total cost of the development programme is now divided into only 99 electronic warfare suites. The US Air Force intends to use the EPAWSS on upgraded F-15EX Eagle II fighters, but the service will procure just over 100 aircraft instead of 144, which will also drive up the cost.

The U.S. Air Force currently plans to order 206 EPAWSS kits for the F-15E and F-15EX. This also includes three Eagle II aircraft that will not be upgraded to the final production configuration.

Despite the disruption, the EPAWSS programme is on track. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said earlier this summer that critical technologies have reached maturity and the design has become stable. However, initial operational readiness has been delayed by four months and is now expected in August 2025.

Source: Breaking Defence