Pentagon Budget 2026: US Navy axes AN/ALQ-248 AOEW decoy programme
A graphic depicting AOEW at work. The programme has been cancelled, according to FY 2026 budget documents, but the USN requirement may continue under the Long Endurance Electronic Decoy programme. (Lockheed Martin)
The US Navy (USN) has axed plans to field the Advanced Offboard Electronic Warfare (AOEW) programme, an electronic attack capability being developed for the Sikorsky MH-60.
Justification documents released in the service's fiscal year (FY) 2026 defence budget request have revealed the navy's plan to divest the Lockheed Martin-developed AOEW Active Mission Payload (AMP) prior to service entry.
The AOEW AMP, designated AN/ALQ-248, was conceived as a self-contained pod to provide USN battlegroups with electronic surveillance and countermeasures against anti-ship missile threats. Hosted on either an MH-60R or MH-60S helicopter, AN/ALQ-248 was designed to work independently or in co-ordination with the shipborne AN/SLQ-32(V)6 and (V)7 electronic warfare (EW) systems being delivered into USN service under the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program.
Lockheed Martin received an AOEW AMP preliminary design contract from Naval Sea Systems Command in late 2016. The programme transitioned into engineering and manufacturing development in September 2017.
An AN/ALQ-248 engineering development model, fitted to an MH-60R helicopter, was tested at an anechoic chamber facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, during 2023. Four low-rate initial production systems have been contracted to date; the USN had planned to start initial operational test and evaluation in the third quarter of FY 2026.
However, the service requested no funding for the system in the FY 2026 budget request. In its justification, the navy said the AOEW capability development document has been cancelled “and requirements transferred to other programmes”. Close-out of remaining development, certification, and test activities will be completed in the final quarter of FY 2025.
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