The AN/SLQ-32 is a shipboard electronic warfare suite built by the Raytheon Company of Goleta, California. It is currently the primary electronic warfare system in use by U.S. Navy ships (as of 2007).
Referred to by its operators as the "slick-32". The SLQ-32 was originally conceived in the 1970s to augment the AN/WLR-1, which had been in service since the early 1960s. It was later determined to save costs to replace the various WLR-1 series suites with the SLQ-32 as a stand alone system. As originally designed, the SLQ-32 was produced in three variants, the (V)1, (V)2 and (V)3. Later in its service life, two additional versions were built, the (V)4 and (V)5. The Air Transport Rack sized processors were supplied by ROLM Mil-Spec Computers in San Jose, CA.
All versions of the SLQ-32, with the exception of the (V)4, are interfaced with the MK36 Decoy Launching System, able to launch chaff and infrared decoys under the control of the SLQ-32. The number and arrangement of MK36 launchers installed depends on the size of the ship, ranging from two launchers on a small combatant to as many as ten on an aircraft carrier. A growing number of systems are being upgraded to incorporate the multi-national MK-53 Nulka system.