Northrop Grumman selects Curtiss-Wright air data computer for AW609 tiltrotor aircraft program

ANAHEIM, Calif., 26 Feb. 2014. Curtiss-Wright Corp.’s (NYSE:CW) Defense Solutions division won a contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) to supply the Air Data Computer for the company’s LCR-300A Attitude Heading Reference System.

The first platform expected to implement this advanced air data and navigation system is the AgustaWestland AW609 tiltrotor aircraft. Under the agreement, Curtiss-Wright will provide Northrop Grumman with its new Air Data Computer Module (ADCM) product and anticipates cumulative sales of several million dollars over the lifetime of the LCR-300A. ADCM shipments are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2014.

“We are pleased to have been selected by Northrop Grumman to provide our highly accurate next generation air data computer to support the new inertial navigation system on the AW609 TiltRotor aircraft,” says Lynn Bamford, senior vice president/general manager, Defense Solutions division. “Our new ADCM digital air data product provides an unprecedented combination of accuracy and reduced cost of ownership, and we are excited that Northrop Grumman is to be our first customer for this lightweight innovative module.”

Northrop Grumman’s LCR-300A Attitude Heading Reference System provides critical flight control and navigation data to help the aircraft achieve required availability, precision and the highest levels of integrity. Curtiss-Wright’s flight critical ADCM digital air data computer module, embedded in the LCR-300A, will provide the navigation system with precise altitude and air speed data.

The lightweight slot-in module contains the pneumatic sensors and processing electronics to generate the complete International Civil Aviation Organization air data parameter set, while weighing less than 0.9 pounds and consuming only 4 watts of power. The module is designed using the latest high stability, low drift pressure transducer technologies to provide exceptional repeatability and reliability. The ADCM uses vibrating cylinder sensors that are expected to significantly lower the cost of ownership compared to earlier air data computers that are based on the use of silicon sensors.

Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division has been supplying air data systems since 1955 and has fielded over 12,000 units of its current generation of digital Air Data Computers.

The Defense Solutions division will manufacture the products covered by this agreement at its Avionics & Electronics business unit facility in Christchurch, U.K. The products will be shipped to Northrop Grumman’s German subsidiary, Northrop Grumman LITEF in Freiburg.