The US Air Force is using the benefield anechoic facility (BAF) at Edwards AFB, California, to test the Angry Kitten electronic countermeasures training pod on an F-16 aircraft for new purposes.
The Angry Kitten combat pod, developed by Georgia Tech Research Institute, has the ability to assess and respond to a threat, and modify jamming signals as needed.
Leveraging commercial electronics and novel machine-learning software, the pod chooses an optimal jamming technique for every electronic warfare event and continues to adapt and optimize its response based on how effective are the jamming technologies it employs against the specific threat.
The anechoic chamber testing was carried out on an F-16 aircraft assigned to the 53rd Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., from October 18 to November 5.
The US Air Force already uses Angry Kittens with its adversary air (ADAIR) squadrons, but is now considering fielding the system to frontline squadrons.
The goal of the most recent test was to characterize interoperability of the Angry Kitten with other F-16 systems like fire control radar, making BAF support with the Advanced Radar Environment Simulator (ARES) necessary. Utilization of the ARES allowed for presentation of a representative target to the F-16 modernized fire control radar.
It should also be noted that the pod went through operational assessment during the Northern Lightning exercise in August this year. During the exercise, the service evaluated interoperability and identified improvements needed to convert Angry Kitten from an aggressor pod to a combat pod.
