Army asks Lockheed Martin to build and sustain electronic warfare (EW) avionics for Apache helicopters
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army combat helicopter designers are asking Lockheed Martin Corp. to build and sustain electronic warfare (EW) systems to enable the AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter to detect and identify enemy radar threats.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $192.2 million order last week to the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems segment in Owego, N.Y., to build the Modernized-Radar Frequency Interferometer (MRFI).
The MRFI identifies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) emitters, and helps the AH-64E pilot to detect and engage an enemy radar threat long before the aircraft becomes vulnerable. The system quickly detects, identifies, and locates enemy radar, and then ranks these hostile radars in order of priority for subsequent ground attack.
The order calls for Lockheed Martin to provide production, sustainment hardware, and technical, logistical, test and engineering support for the MRFI, which is part of the AH-64E's digital receiver-based AN/APR-48B avionics system, which performs target acquisition and cueing for the helicopter's fire-control radar system.
The system also can deliver warning of radar directed antiaircraft threats and serve as the controller for an integrated aircraft survivability equipment. The system provides high sensitivity and precision angle of attack in a lightweight modular configuration.
The AN/APR-48B system primarily operates on a dual-redundant MIL-STD-1553B databus aboard Apache helicopters. Other commercial I/O interfaces available for future growth include Gigabit Ethernet, RS-232, and RS-422.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Owego, N.Y., and should be finished by August 2023. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems online at www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/rotary-and-mission-systems.html, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa/.
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.
