Northrop Grumman selects Rockwell Collins optics for infrared countermeasures system

Northrop Grumman Corp. engineers in Los Angeles needed electro-optics assemblies for the Miniature Pointer Tracker (MPT) in its Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system.

They found their solution at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company won an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at up to $66 million and spanning through 2010.

The MPT defends aircraft from infrared missile attacks by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat, and activating a system of pulsed lasers “to track and defeat the threat by confusing its guidance head,” says a representative.

For additional information, visit Rockwell Collins online at www.rockwellcollins.com.