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An illustration of the EC-37 displaying a "notional configuration" showed it with a pod mounted on top of the tail to house a wideband satellite data communications link; a canoe fairing under the forward fuselage for SIGINT gear to perform eavesdropping and direction finding; and six detachable pods carried under the wings, including:
An AN/USQ-113 communications jammer pod.
Two AN/ALQ-99 standoff radar jammer pods.
A SAR-MTI pod, providing a range of 320 kilometers (200 miles) and resolution of at least 30 centimeters (one foot).
An AEW radar pod.
An electro-optic / infrared (EO/IR) imager pod.
While that was likely a more diverse payload than would be carried on typical operational missions, the idea of carrying SIGINT and jammer gear on the same flight is practical. Using fast digital control systems, the jammer systems can be switched off for a few milliseconds, allowing the SIGINT gear to spot a target, and then the jammer systems would be turned back on to electronically attack the new target. The technique is called "looking through".
General Dynamics has also investigated integration of an AESA-based multipurpose EW system, either built into the fuselage or into the 1.8 meter (6 foot) tall winglets at the tips of the Gulfstream V's wings. In addition, they have suggested that the EC-37 SMA could be used as an auxiliary GPS signal source to help defeat GPS jamming and enhance GPS target location.
General Dynamics has pointed out that the EC-37 SMA has plenty of engine power and could easily operate at altitudes high enough to give its payload suite a clear view of a battle theater. In a typical mission profile, the aircraft could reach operating altitude in 25 minutes, fly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles), and remain on station for 10 hours at 14.3 kilometers (47,000 feet), without mid-air refueling.
The EC-37 SMA would offer a shirtsleeve environment for its crewmembers. Advocates also point out that the tail-mounted turbofans of the Gulfstream V do not block the view of underwing electronics pods, as would be the case for would EW platform based on the Boeing 737 or Airbus jetliners, which have turbofans mounted under the wings. Critics have suggested that the Gulfstream V is too small an aircraft to mount antenna arrays or carry gear with really adequate capability.
The EC-37 SMA notional configuration did not include armament, but the Navy has been interested in an aircraft with the capability to carry the Harpoon antiship missile, the similar SLAM land-attack cruise missile, or other long-range precision strike munitions, allowing the EW aircraft to not only identify and locate targets, but to attack and destroy them as well.
Gulfstream has promoted a variation on the Gulfstream V special mission concept, in the form of a Gulfstream G550 configured as a UAV. Stripped of all the niceties required for carrying people, it would have a load capacity of 9,525 kilograms (21,000 pounds). The "GV-UAV" concept, to give it a name, was pitched as a solution for the US Navy's need for a replacement for the current EP-3 Aries SIGINT aircraft, as well as the Navy BAMS requirement. It could also be used as a tanker, either with dedicated refueling gear or fitted with buddy refueling packs on its stores pylons. For the moment, the GV-UAV remains a speculative concept.
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