SEWIP (AN/SLQ-32)

The U.S. Navy's shipboard electronic-warfare backbone — a long-running AN/SLQ-32 modernization program that detects, classifies and, in newer blocks, jams radar-guided anti-ship threats.

Overview

SEWIP, the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, is the U.S. Navy's incremental modernization path for the AN/SLQ-32 shipboard electronic-warfare suite. The original AN/SLQ-32, nicknamed "Slick 32," was fielded as a surface-ship threat-warning and jamming family; SEWIP keeps that architecture relevant through block upgrades rather than replacing it outright. The Navy describes SEWIP as a program for early detection, signal analysis, threat warning, counter-targeting and counter-surveillance against anti-ship missile threats and their supporting radars, with the program managed through PEO Integrated Warfare Systems and NAVSEA Navy Fact File.

The system is not a single frozen configuration. Legacy AN/SLQ-32 variants span passive warning receivers and active-jamming suites; SEWIP Block 2, formally AN/SLQ-32(V)6 and AN/SLQ-32C(V)6 for the scaled "SEWIP Lite" configuration, upgrades electronic support and combat-system integration; SEWIP Block 3, AN/SLQ-32(V)7, adds modern electronic attack for non-kinetic "soft-kill" defense. As of 2026, Block 2 and Block 3 are both in production or fielding, with Lockheed Martin leading Block 2 and Northrop Grumman leading Block 3 Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman.

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