NASHUA, N.H., 5 July 2007. BAE Systems has received three U.S. Army contracts totalling $27 million to prepare its Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures (ATIRCM) system for operational test and evaluation in 2009.
ATIRCM, the Army's next-generation directable infrared countermeasures system, is a multiband, laser-based system that protects aircraft against widely deployed heat-seeking missiles.
BAE Systems will enhance system reliability through a series of growth tests, incorporate a multiband laser (MBL) upgrade to replace the infrared jam laser and flashlamp subsystem, and update software with improved built-in test and mission capability.
The MBL has an infrared countermeasures capability that provides laser jamming in all three key threat bands. That capability makes it more reliable and effective than the combined flashlamp infrared jam laser on the current ATIRCM system.
BAE Systems will next conduct a series of flight tests to verify the performance of ATIRCM and the company's Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) in advance of Army test and evaluation.
CMWS is a sensor for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft that provides rapid warning of hostile surface-to-air threats.
The combined ATIRCM/CMWS suite evaluates the entire threat environment and selects the appropriate response to counter specific missile threats using an array of countermeasures.
