Breaking News : U.S. Air Force Deploys Next-Generation EA-37B Compass Call Electronic Warfare Jets Toward Middle East Theater
The United States Air Force has deployed at least two EA-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft toward the Middle East, in what is shaping up to be the first operational forward deployment of this next-generation platform.
Open-source flight tracking data confirmed two EA-37Bs tail numbers 19-1587 and 17-5579, flying under callsigns AXIS41 and AXIS43 transiting through RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, with onward routing toward the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
A separate observation from late January recorded tail 17-5579 operating under callsign FAZE41, landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany the USAF’s primary European hub and a well-established staging point for assets bound for the Middle East. The Pentagon described that earlier movement as a “roadshow” introducing the platform to NATO partners.
The EA-37B, built on a modified Gulfstream G550 airframe and developed by L3Harris and BAE Systems, is the successor to the aging EC-130H Compass Call. Its core mission is to degrade, deny, and disrupt adversary command, control, communications, radar, and navigation systems across the electromagnetic spectrum including suppression of enemy air defense networks.
Compared to its predecessor, the new platform is approximately 40 percent faster, carries double the operational range, and can operate at altitudes exceeding 40,000 feet, enabling standoff jamming from ranges the EC-130H could not achieve.
Initial operating capability for the EA-37B fleet is slated for 2026. A total of 10 aircraft are on order, with five delivered as of mid-2025. The 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, is the sole operator.
As of the time of publication, CENTCOM has not issued an official confirmation of the deployment, and the 55th Wing has declined to comment.
Sources: FlightGlobal, ItaMilRadar, Defence Security Asia, Air and Space Forces Magazine, Wikipedia (EA-37B Compass Call), open-source flight tracking data