AIR‐4.

5 At‐a‐Glance
Avionics, Sensors & E*Warfare Department
We are a large, complex and geographically distributed competency that provides electronics
expertise, capabilities, products and services to the Naval Aviation Enterprise, including
Programs of Record (PORs), non-PORs, and Fleet Readiness requirements. AIR-4.5 is the
Naval Air Systems Command technical authority for Avionics, Sensors and E*Warfare
encompassing the full spectrum of engineering activity - Science and Technology (S&T),
Acquisition, and In-Service Engineering and Sustainment, engaging in all scales from the
micro to the macro: electronic technologies, components and equipment, subsystems,
systems, and systems of systems - all to enable mission warfighting capabilities.

Naval Air Warfare Center
Aircraft Division 
NAWCAD‐4.5 
Patuxent River, MD
NAWCAD-4.5 is comprised of six divisions located at
Patuxent River, MD, with additional personnel operating in
Crane, IN and Washington, DC.

AIR-4.5.1 Avionics Systems Engineering

Provides resources needed by program teams to perform technical work
planning, development of technical team structure and composition, system
requirements development and management, configuration baseline
management, risk management and technical performance measurement, and
tracking across the entire spectrum of Naval manned and unmanned aircraft.

AIR-4.5.3 Core Avionics Engineering

Provides the people, processes and facilities to preform research,
development, integration, acquisition and life-cycle support for core avionics
systems for Navy and Marine Corps manned and unmanned aircraft. Core
avionics are those electronic systems that provide the aircrew with the
situational awareness needed for safety-of-flight and interfacing with other
aircraft, land-based systems and shipboard systems.

AIR-4.5.5 Radar & Antenna Systems Engineering

Provides technical expertise necessary for the life-cycle support of Naval
airborne Radar, Antenna and Data Fusion systems. Our range of product
support includes tactical and surveillance radar systems, complete radar and
antenna system modeling including Computational Electromagnetics and
antenna measurement & performance predictions.

AIR-4.5.6 EO and Special Mission Sensors

Provides engineering, innovation and solutions for electro-optic and infrared
imaging, lasers, magnetics and quantum devices. Applications include long
standoff airborne imaging, metadata, precision targeting, non-acoustic anti-
submarine and anti-mine warfare, electronic warfare, laser communications,
navigation and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensor
and data dissemination, and special mission payloads for warfighters.

AIR-4.5.14 Airborne ASW Systems Engineering

Provides the technical personnel, processes, facilities and tools to conduct
research, development, and acquisition of anti-submarine warfare mission
systems for manned and unmanned aircraft while delivering scientific and
engineering products and services throughout all phases of the DOD
Acquisition Framework.

AIR-4.5.18 Electronic Warfare Systems Engineering

Provides technical management of development, acquisition, integration and
life-cycle support of Electronic Warfare Systems (Defensive, Offensive,
Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Cyber).
 AIR-4.5 Avionics, Sensors and E*Warfare
• Conducts technology research, systems development, acquisition, and in-service
support of Naval avionics, mission systems, equipment and associated
architectures and operating software required for support of naval aviation
integrated warfighting capabilities (IWC) and electromagnetic maneuver warfare
(EMW).

• Functional areas include: system engineering, integration, design, analysis,

prototyping, tests, evaluation, and in-service, sustainment support.

• Products include: advanced architectures; mission computers and processors;

communications; navigation; controls; displays; mission sensors; instruments;
antennas; armament control; information and electronic warfare; interface
devices; electronic data buses; mission planning; aviation-related ground-based
electronics; other related combat systems and equipment; and associated
operating software.

• Position Classification: Project Engineering, Systems Engineer, Research

Scientist; these positions are filled by Engineers, Physicists, Mathematicians,
Chemist, and other technical fields.

Selected Avionics, Sensors and E*Warfare Scientific and Engineering activities include:

• Manned and Unmanned Aircrafts; • Autonomy;

• System Engineering for Avionics • Artificial Intelligence;
and Mission Systems; • EO/IR Sensors and Tracking;
• Advanced avionics architectures; • Lasers;
• Signal Collection Exploitation; • Magnetics;
• Sensor design, development, test • Intelligence, Surveillance and
and integration; Reconnaissance;
• Communications; • Avionics Integration;
• Identification; • Weapons Integration;
• Networks and Data Links; • Anti-Submarine Warfare;
• Navigation; • Mission Planning;
• Flight Safety; • Modeling & Simulation;
• Information Processing and • Signals Intelligence;
Displays; • Cyber Warfare Offensive &
• Photonics; Defensive;
• EW Systems; • Production, manufacturing, and
─ Warning; quality;
─ Countermeasures; • Advanced Developments;
─ EO Measurements; • Science and Technology;
• RADAR Systems; • In-service Engineering;
• Antenna Systems;
• Data Fusion;