USAF wants to convert C-37B into electronic attack platform

The U.S. Air Force has requested $165.7 million in the FY 2017 defense budget to convert the C-37B – military designation for the G550 – into an electronic attack platform that will eventually replace the EC-130H.

C-37B (Gulf Stream 550)
By Jonathan Fowler, U.S. Air Force (http://www.yokota.af.mil; exact source) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The new request was disclosed in the House Armed Services Committee’s FY2017 defense policy bill. Under the plan, the flying branch was to buy one EC-37B each year over six years.

The service explained to lawmakers that instead of a competitive bid to find a platform, it selected the C-37B because doing so will not require additional certification work.