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Air Force Opens Warner Robins Speedline to Fast-Track F-15E EPAWSS Retrofits

The new depot line lets the service fit BAE Systems’ Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System outside long programmed maintenance cycles to increase F-15E survivability in contested operations.

Overview

  • The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has stood up a dedicated EPAWSS “speedline” at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex to install the electronic-warfare suite on F-15E Strike Eagles independent of Programmed Depot Maintenance.
  • The speedline is projected to accept its first F-15E for the EPAWSS retrofit, allowing aircraft that would otherwise wait five to seven years for PDM to receive the upgrade sooner.
  • EPAWSS, built by BAE Systems, replaces the F-15’s functionally obsolete Tactical Electronic Warfare System and adds radar warning, geolocation, improved situational awareness, automated self-protection, and active jamming.
  • The Pentagon approved EPAWSS for full-rate production in 2025, the Air Force plans roughly 99 F-15E retrofits, and new F-15EX aircraft are being produced with EPAWSS installed from the factory.
  • By decoupling installations from lengthy depot cycles, the speedline aims to cut backlog, raise near-term fleet readiness, and give crews more confidence to operate in electromagnetically dense environments such as the Indo-Pacific.