U.S. Navy orders full production of new Growler jamming unit

The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems a contract worth up to $184.25 million to move a new electronic warfare component for the EA-18G Growler into full-rate production. The contract covers manufacturing of the Next Generation Electronic Attack Unit, known as NGEAU, along with sustainment support for the unit and future sustainment work on the jet’s Advanced Capability Mission Computer.

The Navy issued the award as an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract mixing firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee terms, with work to be performed at General Dynamics Mission Systems’ facility in Bloomington, Minnesota, through September 2032. That $184.25 million figure is the contract’s ceiling rather than a guaranteed payout. The Navy obligated just over $40 million at the time of the award, split between fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds ($29,691,536) and fiscal 2025 funds ($10,365,451), with additional money to follow as the Navy places orders against the contract.

The Navy awarded the contract without competition, citing federal rules that allow a sole-source purchase when only one contractor can meet the requirement. Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, in Crane, Indiana, is managing the contract on the Navy’s behalf.

NGEAU upgrades the Electronic Attack Unit already built into the EA-18G Growler, the Navy’s dedicated electronic warfare jet, as part of a broader update called Growler Block II. The unit works alongside the ALQ-218 Airborne Electronic Attack System Enhancement to help the aircraft detect and respond to unfamiliar radio signals on its own in a crowded electromagnetic environment, a capability the Navy has said it needs to keep the Growler fleet effective until a future aircraft eventually replaces it.

Boeing, which builds the EA-18G, holds a separate contract covering NGEAU testing and hardware kits. A 2023 order worth $95.9 million tasked Boeing with developmental and operational test support and the production of 25 NGEAU A-Kits, 25 gunbay pallet A-Kits, 15 NGEAU B-Kits and nine B-Kit spares, with work split across St. Louis, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Bethpage, New York; and Linthicum, Maryland. The Minneapolis-area work on that earlier contract points to General Dynamics Mission Systems’ existing role supplying NGEAU hardware before this week’s move to full-rate production.

NGEAU is a separate system from the Next Generation Jammer pods that mount externally on the Growler’s wings, which Raytheon and L3Harris are building to eventually replace the aircraft’s older ALQ-99 jamming pods. NGEAU instead upgrades processing hardware built into the aircraft itself.