ALQ-184

AN/ALQ-184(V) electronic warfare pods both contain a radar jammer, and can tow an AN/ALE-50 decoy. It is an upgrade of the AN/ALQ-119, and is used on F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt tactical aircraft. Those aircraft still use the AN/ALQ-131, but the ALQ-184, now in its 11th upgrade, AN/ALQ(V)11, is generally considered superior. It has also been approved for aircraft including the F-4 Phantom II, F-111, F-15 Eagle, A-7 and C-130 Hercules.

In version (V)9, the device was put onto dual-redundant MIL-STD-1553B electronic busses, allowing better integration with other onboard electronic warfare systems. The ALQ-184 electronics decide if the electronic countermeasure transmitter on the pod, or on the towed decoy, is most appropriate against a given threat. ALQ-184 pods come in "short" and "long" versions, but all are being converted to "long" as part of intermediate maintenance at Moody Air Force Base. The ALQ-184 is available in two-(Mid and High band) and three-band (Mid, High and Low band) configurations.

Version 11 added more intelligence, in both a noise generator (i.e., brute-force jamming) and deceptive transponder mode. It is programmable not to start responding to a radar until it senses a certain number of hits from the threat, so the jammer does not become a beacon.