LIBERTY LAKE, Wa., 19 Aug. 2008.SprayCool, maker of liquid-cooled tactical enclosure products, won a production contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. to supply electronics enclosures for the U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial system (UAS). Under this contract, each of the first five of 25 currently planned Block 30 aircraft will get outfitted with two SprayCool enclosures that will host Northrop Grumman's processing electronics in support of its Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP) program.
ASIP is a signals intelligence sensor payload developed by Northrop Grumman Mission Systems sector's Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory business unit for use on both the U-2 and Global Hawk. This production win falls on the heels of the ASIP-1C award, a scaled-down derivative system that SprayCool is working with Northrop Grumman to develop an electronics enclosure for the MQ-1 Predator UAS.
"SprayCool Enclosures allow Northrop Grumman the flexibility to select from a wide range of electronics, some of which feature commercial grade components, and field them in harsh environments like the high altitude operation of the Global Hawk," says Matt Gerber, president and chief executive officer of SprayCool. "They are able to do that in un-pressurized, un-conditioned air space, leaving the more valuable, but limited conditioned air space available for legacy avionics."
SprayCool patented two-phase liquid cooling technology uses a fine mist of non-corrosive, non-conductive liquid, sprayed in a thin layer, which evaporates and cools electronics. The process continuously cycles within a sealed, closed loop system.
In doing so, says a representative, SprayCool products isolate the electronics from dirty, corrosive environments found in military and industrial applications resulting in cooler, higher performance, and more durable electronic devices. The technology provides an efficiently controlled and isolated environment for a broad mix of electronics in a package that is significantly smaller, lighter, and more power and cost efficient, and faster to deploy by the integrator.
