VMETRO to provide liquid-cooled chassis and embedded computing for laser mine-detection system

HOUSTON, 29 May 2008.VMETRO in Houston won a second low-rate initial production contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. for components for its Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS), which is deployed on helicopters to help the U.S. Navy detect sea mines at or near the water's surface.

The Northrop Grumman Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (AMLDS)

VMETRO will provide three central electronics chassis (CEC) to the ALMDS program. The CEC is a liquid-cooled air transportable rack (ATR) system with VMETRO CSW1 6U VXS (VITA 41) switch cards and VPF1 quad processor payload cards.

The CSW1 and VPF1 process image sensor data using real-time multiprocessing over high-speed serial communications. Delivery will be later this year. The order is worth about $900,000.

"The ALMDS CEC is developed by VMETRO, with its combination of FPGA and PowerPC processing capabilities, is one of the enablers for Northrop Grumman to provide this critical mine-detection capability," says Deon Harkey, Northrop Grumman ALMDS program manager. "ALMDS protects the fleet while taking the sailor out of the minefield."

Using an airborne light detection and ranging blue-green laser, the ALMDS system covers a large area of the ocean, detecting, localizing, and classifying mines. This system enables the military to expedite mine hunting and reconnaissance.

More than fifty helicopter will receive the ALMDS system. For more information contact VMETRO online at www.vmetro.com.