Boeing readies P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft for Raytheon COTS-based surveillance radar
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 27 Aug. 2009. U.S. Navy officials are asking the Boeing Co. in Seattle to update electronics interface documentation for the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and anti submarine jet aircraft to clear the way for installation of the COTS-based Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS)surveillance radar from Raytheon Co.
Boeing won a $25 million contract modification Wednesday from Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., to add the AAS/P-8A radar technology interface requirement specification (IRS) to P-8A documentation to get Raytheon read to start installing AAS radar systems aboard Poseidon aircraft.
The AAS airborne radar will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in the littoral environment with next generation line-of-sight capability. AAS military radar designers will make the most of commercial off the shelf (COTS) technologies and rugged systems for demanding environments to help maintain and upgrade the AAS radar system.
The IRS refines requirements for the integration of the AAS maritime and littoral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance radar, and the system's special mission cabin equipment on the P-8A aircraft. Boeing will do the work in Seattle, and should be finished by February.
The Advanced Airborne Sensor is the follow-on to the Littoral Surveillance Radar System (LSRS), which is operational on Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol turboprop aircraft.
-- Posted by John Keller, [email protected]. www.milaero.com.
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