Amid escalating threats from President Donald Trump to use military force against Iran if nuclear negotiations fail, 12 F-16CJ Block 52 Vipers were seen carrying Angry Kitten EW pods that could deal a devastating blow to Iranian air defences during a potential attack.
“Just noticed that all 12 SCANG Block 52 Vipers transiting LPLA were carrying Angry Kitten EA/EW pods en route to the Middle East. Fairly noteworthy for a lot of reasons. Can’t ever recall seeing EKs on jets potentially heading into ops, likely the first instance?” an OSINT user wrote on social media.
The aircraft detected by plane spotters and OSINT experts is easily distinguishable as belonging to the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing by the “South Carolina” displayed on its tail.
Additionally, it has distinguishing markings that represent the wing’s nickname, the “Swamp Fox.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly signalled that he would use military options against Iran if nuclear talks stall. On February 20, 2026, for instance, Trump claimed that the world would learn “over the next, probably, 10 days” if a deal was achieved or if the US would use force against Tehran.
The US Central Command has amassed airpower in the Middle East region, including dozens of fighter jets, such as F-22s, F-35s, F-16s, E-3 AWACS aircraft, tankers, and other support assets, as you can read about more in a detailed EurAsian Times report.
The deployment of an F-16CJ Viper with an Angry Kitten EW pod further adds credibility to reports of an imminent strike on Iran.
The F-16 CJ is primarily assigned to Wild Weasel missions, a specialised US Air Force (USAF) role where it suppresses enemy air defences by baiting, identifying, and destroying radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.
F-16CJ Sporting EW Angry Kitten Pods
The Angry Kitten, officially designated as the AN/ALQ-167 Electronic Warfare Countermeasure Pod, is a sophisticated jamming system developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).
It originated in the early 2010s as an evolution of older AN/ALQ-167 pods, which were primarily used for training and testing by simulating enemy Electronic Warfare (EW) threats during exercises.
However, it was made operational after USAF pilots requested the EW pod for real-world combat scenarios, evolving into a key “blue team” advantage for friendly forces—as officially confirmed by the US Air Force in 2022.
Mounted on F-16s since at least 2017, the pod underwent rigorous testing in anechoic chambers at Edwards Air Force Base in 2021 to ensure it was compatible with other systems, including fire control radars. And, by 2023, it was integrated and flown on various platforms through collaborations.
Angry Kitten is a cognitive EW system that detects, records, classifies, manipulates, and retransmits radio frequency (RF) signals using advanced Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology. This enables it to effectively disrupt anti-air threats by projecting erroneous or misleading tracks back at enemy radars and missile seekers, enabling jamming or spoofing.
Additionally, it has software “apps” that can be updated and modified to quickly adapt to evolving threats, unlike classic jamming pods like the AN/ALQ-184 or AN/ALQ-131, which are typically carried by F-16s across the service.
Based on input, engineers can make real-time modifications to jamming techniques during flights, sending updates straight to the pod for threat-specific improvement. This allows for cognitive automation, which reduces reprogramming times and maintains threat libraries up to date, and minimizes human intervention.
F-16s have been the primary platform for Angry Kitten, namely the Block 52 F-16CJ Viper variants designed for DEAD and SEAD missions.
These fourth-generation fighters carry the pod on their centreline or fuselage stations, providing extra self-protection in high-risk environments. The deployment of F-16CJ Vipers with the Angry Kitten pods against Iran would mark a potential first combat use, although that cannot be independently verified.
The Angry Kitten pod would provide significant benefits to the F-16CJ—particularly by enhancing self-protection in high-threat environments.
F-16CJs routinely fly deep into enemy territory to provoke and engage air defence radars, which is an inherently risky mission.
Iran’s key defense systems include Russian-supplied S-300PMU-2 SAMs and indigenous Bavar-37 to detect, track, and shoot down hostile warplanes.
The Angry Kitten pod delivers a powerful electronic countermeasures capability by actively spoofing and jamming enemy radar and missile guidance systems. This makes it very hard for AD systems to neutralize intruding jets.
By injecting false or misleading signals, the EW pod disrupts targeting precision and forces enemy radars to hesitate, shut down, or waste resources, greatly enhancing survivability during high-threat SEAD/DEAD missions.
Unlike older fixed jamming pods, Angry Kitten uses Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, combined with cognitive algorithms and machine-learning-inspired features. It can detect and analyse incoming Radio Frequency (RF) threats in real time, automatically select or generate tailored jamming/spoofing responses, and adapt quickly to unfamiliar or rapidly changing threats.
To combat evolving threats, the pod’s software-driven “apps” and design enable rapid modifications, often overnight or even mid-mission, with feedback loops.
Angry Kitten enormously diminishes the protracted hardware upgrades required by traditional EW systems, thereby maintaining the F-16CJ’s relevance against modern threats.
Notably, the F-16CJ already carries specialised gear for SEAD, such as AN/ASQ-213 HTS pod for passive radar detection and HARM missile cueing, LITENING targeting pod for precision strikes, and AGM-88 HARMs for radar-killing. The addition of Angry Kitten would augment these by providing active jamming/spoofing, reducing the pilot’s exposure time while closing in to launch HARMs or other munitions.
By degrading the enemy’s situational awareness and enhancing targeting precision, the EW pod boosts the aircraft’s survival, especially during entry and exit from contested airspace.
In a nutshell, the Angry Kitten would transform a non-stealthy fourth-generation fighter like the F-16 into a more resilient “electronic warrior” for high-risk missions, such as against Iran.
- Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari13 (at) outlook.com
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