For the first time, US deploys New EA-37B Electronic attack planes to Middle East

In what could be its first operational deployment, two U.S. Air Force EA-37B Compass Call aircraft are en route to the Middle East, two years after they were first delivered in 2024.

Flight data revealed that two EA-37Bs loaded with electronic warfare equipment left Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on March 30, before landing in a US air base in the UK’s RAF Mildenhall in England.

Photographs collected by an aviation enthusiast show EA-37B on March 31. One of the   planes showed extensive fuselage modifications to accommodate electronic warfare  equipment typical of an EA-37B. The EA-37Bs are heavily modified Gulfstream G550  aircraft, which were acquired to replace their ageing fleet of turboprop-powered EC-130H Compass Call planes, of which only four are still in service.

Of the four, two were said to be parked at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which  recently came under attack from an Iranian drone. Though not confirmed, reports were  that the EC-130H was destroyed in the drone attack, which could have prompted an  emergency deployment of EA-37Bs, even ahead of their planned entry into full operational availability.  

The USAF has five EA-37Bs that can conduct multiple electronic warfare missions,  including jamming enemy communications, radar, navigation, and other signals, and suppressing enemy air defences by blocking the ability of weapon systems and command-and-control networks to share data. The EA-37Bs can fly nearly 770 miles per hour at up to 45,000 feet, with a range of 4,400 nautical miles, according to Air Combat Command.

The EA-37B is a tactical airborne electromagnetic attack system that “denies, degrades, and disrupts adversary command, control, communications, radars, and navigation systems,” according to the BAE.