Northrop Grumman to upgrade AN/APR-39D(V)2 radar warning receiver processor with 6U-form-factor circuit cards
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 3 June 2012. U.S. Navy avionics experts are asking engineers at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems segment in Rolling, Meadows, Ill., to upgrade the Navy's AN/APR-39 family of radar warning receivers new digital signal processing (DSP) capability based on 6U-form-factor circuit cards.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command on Thursday awarded a $6.7 million contract to Northrop Grumman to design and integrate the AN/APR-39D(V)2 processor using 6U card standards.
The AN/APR-39D(V)2 will be the latest upgrade to the AN/APR-39 radar warning receiver that corrects deficiencies and enhances capability in the same weight and dimensions as the current system. The upgrade calls for a new digital receiver for the AN/APR-39D(V)2.
The AN/APR-39 family of radar warning receivers is for a variety of Navy fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and naval vessels. The contract also calls for Northrop Grumman to antennas and receiver resources for various Navy fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
The APR-39 radar warning receiver detects radar threats to aircraft, such as radar ground sites and particularly radar-guided missiles, and provides 360-degree coverage around the aircraft. When the system detects radar threats, it alerts the aircraft crew to each threat with a graphic symbol on the cockpit display.
The APR-39 provides the pilot and air crew with information on threat types, bearing, and the severity of the threat. The system also gives the aircrew synthetic speech audio threat warnings.
The APR-39 also functions as an electronic warfare management system, and serves as the heart of Northrop Grumman's suite of integrated sensors and countermeasures that integrates and displays data from onboard sensors radio frequency and electro-optical sensors.
On the current contract, Northrop Grumman will do the work in Rolling Meadows, Ill.; Woburn, Mass.; and Menlo Park, Calif., and should be finished by February 2013.
For more information contact Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems online at www.es.northropgrumman.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
