Northrop Grumman to provide aircraft laser-based missile defense

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. - Missile-defense experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide electro-optical equipment for laser-based missile-defense systems aboard large military aircraft under terms of a $99.5 million U.S. Navy order.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Northrop Grumman Mission Systems segment in Rolling Meadows, Ill., to provide the Large Aircraft Infrared Counter Measures (LAIRCM) for a variety of U.S. Navy and Air Force aircraft. Northrop Grumman will provide weapon replaceable assemblies and support equipment; 302 advanced threat warning sensors; 41 control indicator units; 41 to 2103 signal processors; 82 guardian laser transmitter assemblies (GLTA); 82 GLTA shipping containers; 16 multi-role, electro-optical, end-to-end test sets; and 14 smart connector assemblies.

The LAIRCM system uses lasers to confuse electro-optical seekers on incoming anti-air missiles.

LAIRCM automatically detects a missile launch, determines if it is a threat, and activates a high-intensity, laser-based countermeasure system to track and defeat the missile. LAIRCM is for Air Force C-5, C-17, C-37, and C-40 cargo and utility jets; Air Force C-130H and MC-130W four-engine utility turboprop aircraft; the CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft, the KC-46 aerial refueling jet, as well as the U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol jet. LAIRCM also can fit on some large military helicopters.

LAIRCM focuses high-intensity laser energy at the infrared seeker head of incoming missiles to blind the missile and force it off its target. The system is designed to protect large aircraft from shoulder-fired, vehicle-launched, and other infrared-guided missiles when the planes are operating close to the ground, such as on takeoff and landing, as well as during low-level operations and aerial refueling. Later-model

Military leaders are trying to develop aircraft-protection infrared countermeasures able to detect and classify incoming missiles, then emit a custom jamming energy to defeat them.

Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Ill.; Goleta, Calif.; Longmont, Colo.; Colombia, Md.; and other locations within and outside the U.S., and should be finished in April 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Northrop Grumman online at www.northropgrumman.com.