Navy looks to Cobham to provide AN/ALQ-99 electronic warfare antennas for U.S. and Australian combat aircraft
LANSDALE, Pa., 23 March 2014. U.S. Navy airborne electronic warfare (EW) experts needed airborne antennas and adapter interface modules for the AN/ALQ-99 tactical electronic jamming system for the U.S. Navy and Australian military forces. They found their solution from the Cobham plc Defense Electronics segment in Lansdale, Pa.
Cobham won a $21.8 million contract modification from the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., for low-band transmitters (LBT), a variety of antennas and adapter interface modules for the AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming system for the Navy and Australian forces.
Under this contract option, Cobham Defense Electronics will build eight LBTs for the US Navy and 11 for Australia; 11 vertically polarized antennas for the Navy and six for Australia; 17 high-band horizontally polarized antennas for the Navy and seven for Australia; and six band-2 adapter interface assemblies for Australia.
Production under this option will begin later this year and should be finished by late 2015. This award brings the total number of production orders to 333 of 333 required transmitters and, to date, 281 transmitters have been delivered, Cobham officials say.
The AN/ALQ-99 low band transmitter-antenna group (LBT-AG), developed by Cobham Defense Electronics, has been in production since 2005. The LBT is designed to protect strike aircraft, ships, and ground troops by disrupting enemy radar and communications. It is flown on Navy EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G aircraft and Marine Corps EA-6B aircraft, and has been used in combat operations.
The LBT complements other ALQ-99 work, as well as the Raytheon Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ), the Next Generation Airborne Electronic Attack study, and the Navy’s Integrated Topside (InTop) and Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).
For more information contact Cobham Defense Electronics online at www.cobham.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
