Northrop Grumman's AN/ALQ-218 Radar Warning Receiver / Electronic Support Measures / Electronic Intelligence (RWR/ESM/ELINT) Sensor System is the U.S. Navy's choice for airborne situational awareness and signal intelligence gathering.
A passive, high performance SIGINT sensor system, the AN/ALQ-218 protects the Warfighter by detecting, identifying, locating and analyzing sources of radio frequency (RF) emission.
The ALQ-218 family is currently in production and installed on both the EA-18G Super Hornet Tactical Jammer and P-8A Poseidon ASW/ASUW aircraft. New spiral initiatives are positioning the AN/ALQ-218 as the ESM system of choice for future Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and subsurface applications.
The ALQ-218 is the world's only receiver system proven to provide high Probability of Intercept (POI) under "Look-Through" operations, enabling DF & Geolocation, parameter measurement and Intentional Modulation on Pulse (IMOP) detection while simultaneously supporting enemy RADAR threat jamming. The ALQ-218 also supports Specific Emitter Identification (SEI) characterization.
The ALQ-218 utilizes a unique combination of short and long baseline interferometer techniques along with a patented passive ranging algorithm to provide precision Geolocation of all ground-based emitters.
ELINT signal analysis software is easily provided via the NGC PASS (Parameterizer & Analysis Software System) tool which receives signal data from analog or digital sources and provides measurement tools for analysis in either pre-detected or Pulse Descriptive Word (PDW) domain.
AN/ALQ-218 system features:
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Broad Radio Frequency Range: Bands 0, 1, 2 and band 3
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Signal Types: Radar (Pulsed & CW) with optional COMMs support
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High Sensitivity and Dynamic Range
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Dynamic Tuning in sparse signal environment (Jamming)
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Passive Precision Geolocation expandable to targeting accuracies
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Specific Emitter Identification (to USG MISPE standards)
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Commercial Interference Mitigation (in bands 0 & 1)
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Enhanced Fine Frequency Measurement supporting Jamming
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Latest generation Frequency Domain Digital Channelized Receiver
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TRL 9 Technology (Hardware and Software)