The U.S. Navy previously awarded Raytheon Company a $1 billion sole source contract for Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) for Increment 1 of the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ), the advanced electronic attack technology that combines high-powered, agile, beam-jamming techniques with cutting-edge, solid-state electronics,” a Raytheon statement said.
This would be a better idea than installing a jammer in schools. As such schools are no mobile zones and we follow a strict guideline of confiscating the phones if found,” said principal of SAI International School, Harish Sanduja.
The NGJ, slated to be operational by 2021, is intended to replace the existing ALQ 99 electronic warfare jammer currently on Navy Growler aircraft. The new jammer is designed to interfere with ground-and-air based threats such as enemy air defenses trying to get a missile “lock” on a target.
Some devices set their signal to the same frequency as pagers and mobile phones, cutting off communication between handsets and base stations. Others work as electronic filters that fool mobile phones into thinking there are no frequencies available to make or receive calls. Manufacturers of the devices say the jammer only affects the designated area (most radii are a couple dozen to several hundred feet) and works only on cellular transmissions.
While radar warning receivers are purely defensive technologies, the NGJ is configured with offensive jamming capabilities in support of stealth bombers and strike aircraft such as an F/A-18 Super Hornet or F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The tide, however, may be changing. This past spring, both Hong Kong and Canada announced they would consider legalizing jammers in an effort to curb bad phone behavior in public. Around the same time, the leaders of India’s parliament revealed they had already installed the devices to avoid interruptions during sessions.