An Air Force EA-37B Compass Call from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., is parked at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on Jan. 26, 2026. Ramstein was the first European stop in what's billed as a road show for the jet. (Edgar Grimaldo/U.S. Air Force)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Plane spotters were abuzz earlier this week when the Air Force’s newest electronic warfare jet was observed in European skies.
Some speculated that the EA-37B Compass Call’s maiden trans-Atlantic voyage and arrival at Ramstein Air Base on Monday could be related to the increased tensions in the Middle East amid ongoing political turmoil in Iran.
The plane traveled from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where it’s assigned to the 55th Electronic Combat Group. It’s designed to suppress enemy air defenses by preventing the transmission of essential information between adversaries, weapon systems and command-and-control networks.
The EA-37B uses a heavily modified Gulfstream G550 business jet airframe and can fly at altitudes of over 40,000 feet and at speeds nearly double those of its C-130-retrofitted predecessor, the EC-130H.
But the aircraft’s first foray into Europe is more ground-focused, with U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa describing the visit as a “short road show.”
The purpose is to introduce the updated platform to airmen, units and some allies “as it transitions into its operational capacity,” the command said in a statement Wednesday.
The plane is slated to continue on to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, the command said Wednesday, but a planned visit to RAF Mildenhall in England was canceled.
At Ramstein, the EA-37B was on static display only as part of a demo for base personnel, according to USAFE-AFAFRICA. Several familiarization briefs were also planned.
U.S. airmen and their NATO counterparts from Norway and Turkey were among personnel who saw the plane up close Monday while it was parked inside a hangar at Ramstein, according to Air Force photos published the following day.
The two-stop show marked the aircraft’s first appearance in the European theater and builds off two previous tours in the Indo-Pacific region, according to USAFE-AFAFRICA.
Aviation observers on social media reported spotting the plane at Spangdahlem on Wednesday, a sighting confirmed by USAFE-AFAFRICA.
The aircraft is slated to return to Davis-Monthan, with no further European stops currently planned, the command said Wednesday.
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