| Northrop
Grumman Jamming System Enters Low-Rate Initial Production
By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor
The next upgrade to the Navy's EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft--Increased
Capability III (ICAP III)--has been approved for low-rate initial production.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems has been awarded a $91.8 million
contract to design and produce 10 ICAP III upgrade kits and associated
spare parts and to install the systems in EA-6B Prowler aircraft.
The first deliveries of the new systems are scheduled for 2004. The
Navy plans to equip one operational EA-6B squadron and the EA-6B fleet
readiness squadron with the ICAP III version in 2005, when initial operational
capability will be achieved.
Two EA-6Bs modified with ICAP III suites have been used to flight-test
the new system over the past two years.
The ICAP III system also will form the baseline for the mission systems
of the EA-18G, a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter that
will eventually replace the EA-6B in Navy squadrons beginning in 2009. "The
ICAP III system is also being evaluated for incorporation in other platforms
as we seek to field common, interoperable systems that meet the needs
of other agencies within the Department of Defense," said Capt.
John Scheffler, EA-6B program manager for the Naval Air Systems Command.
Airborne Early Warning & Electronic Warfare Systems, a unit of Northrop
Grumman Integrated Systems, is leading the ICAP III development effort,
with work being performed at its facilities in Bethpage, N.Y., Hollywood,
Md., and Point Mugu and Camarillo, Calif. Northrop Grumman Electronic
Systems and BAE Systems also provide elements of the ICAP III suite.
"Technically, ICAP III is a great achievement in software development
and systems integration," said Sam Abbate, Northrop Grumman's ICAP
III integrated product team leader. "ICAP III will deliver two critical
capabilities to the Navy--the ability to protect our fliers against tomorrow's
surface-to-air missiles, and the ability to identify and accurately locate
those threats so they can be targeted and destroyed."
A key feature of the ICAP III capability is selective reactive jamming,
the ability to jam discrete emitters with focused high power, rather
than jamming broad spectrums with diffused power.
"ICAP III revolutionizes electronic attack in much the same way
that precision-guided munitions have revolutionized strike warfare," Scheffler
said. "With ICAP III, the fleet has the ability to very specifically
target and rapidly respond to changes in enemy electronic threats, thereby
significantly enhancing the survivability and effectiveness of our striking
forces."
Raytheon IDS Delivers
SPY-3 Radar to Navy
The newest generation of shipboard radar has been delivered to the Navy
by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. The SPY-3--designed for the Navy's
next aircraft carrier, the George H.W. Bush; the DD(X) destroyers; and
the newest amphibious warfare ships--has completed its integration and
testing by Raytheon and has been delivered to the Naval Surface Warfare
Center's Surface Combat Systems Center at Wallops Island, Va.
The SPY-3--an active phased-array X-band multifunction radar--is designed
for search and fire control and combines the functions of five different
radars on board current Navy ships. Raytheon spokesman Steve Brecken
said that the SPY-3 complies with new requirements "for reduced
radar cross-section, significantly reduced manning requirements, and
total ownership cost reduction."
"This delivery is tangible evidence of the progress we've made
in the development of next-generation radars that will serve the fleet
in the 21st century," said Dan Martin, vice president for surveillance
and sensor systems at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. "SPY-3
represents the first of the full range of Raytheon technologies that
will revolutionize the Navy's capabilities in the years to come."
Defense Industry Notes
* Bell-Boeing has been awarded a $123.2 million Naval Air Systems Command
contract modification for support and management of the MV-22 Block Upgrade
Flight Test Program. The ongoing event-driven program is designed to
evaluate modifications made in the MV-22 to correct deficiencies identified
last year in the tiltrotor aircraft.
* The Block IV version of the Tomahawk cruise missile--the Tactical
Tomahawk--has been launched from a submarine for the first time. The
missile--built by Raytheon Missile Systems--was launched from the Los
Angeles-class attack submarine USS Tucson, positioned in the waters of
the Naval Air Systems Command sea range off Southern California. It then
flew 814 nautical miles to impact at the China Lake test range in California.
The missile test demonstrated the newly developed Tactical Tomahawk Weapons
Control System and the Tomahawk Command and Control System, which allow
the submarine to receive mission data and pass the information to the
missile.
* Northrop Grumman Newport News Operations has been awarded a $107.6
million Naval Sea Systems Command contract modification to continue pre-system
development and design for the next-generation aircraft carrier program,
CVN 21. The contract calls for research and design development in support
of ship construction, which is scheduled to begin in 2007. The CVN 21
design will include innovations such as greater sortie-generation capability,
improved weapons movement, a redesigned island superstructure, a new
nuclear power plant design, and reduced manning requirements. Delivery
of the first CVN 21 hull--designated CVN 78--is planned for 2014.
* ATK Missile Systems has been awarded a $222.6 million Naval Air
Systems Command contract for system development and design of the AGM-88E
AARGM
(Advanced Antiradiation Guided Missile), an upgrade of the High-Speed
Antiradiation Missile) used by Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 and EA-6B
aircraft to suppress enemy air defenses. ATK will design, develop, and
demonstrate a multimode seeker, which will include an antiradiation homing
receiver, a global positioning system/inertial measuring unit, and a
terminal homing radar. The company will build seven test units, nine
engineering and manufacturing development units, and 15 production-representative
AGM-88E AARGMs.
* Lockheed Martin has formally joined the DD(X) program with the signing
of a $175 million contract with Raytheon, lead systems integrator for
the program. Lockheed Martin, now a part of the DD(X) national team--led
by Northrop Grumman--brings to the program vast experience in combat
systems engineering, command and control, integrated undersea warfare,
weapons control, and phased-array radar.
* UQM Technologies has received a $70,000 contract from the Office of
Naval Research to evaluate the application of hybrid electric propulsion
to small military boats. Hybrid electric propulsion has the potential
to improve fuel consumption and lower emissions.
* Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems has been
awarded a $67 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract modification
to build Mk41 Vertical Launching Systems and ancillary hardware. The
company will build launchers for two new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile
destroyers (DDGs) and will upgrade the Baseline VII versions of the Mk41s
on board five earlier Arleigh Burke DDGs (91 through 95).
* A RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) built by Raytheon Missile
Systems and equipped with a new digital autopilot has maneuvered successfully
during a test flight at the Naval Air Systems Command range at China
Lake, Calif. The RAM--a lightweight, quick-reaction ship self-defense
missile--maintained stability while executing three maneuvers, Raytheon
officials said in a release. The Block 1 RAM equipped with the new autopilot
is scheduled for three more flight tests.
* Lockheed Martin has joined the Northrop Grumman team in developing
an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle for the Navy. The team is competing
with Boeing in the program, renamed Unmanned Combat Air System.
* American Superconductor has delivered its new five-megawatt high-temperature
ship (HTS) motor to the Navy, on budget and schedule, company officials
said in a release. The new motor offers such advantages as reduced size
and weight, inherent quietness, greater durability, and higher efficiency
than conventional electric motors. The company is developing a 36.5-megawatt
HTS motor for installation in the Navy's future surface ships.
* Hamilton Sundstrand has been awarded a $44.5 million Naval Air Systems
Command contract to build and deliver the digitally controlled eight-bladed
all-composite NP2000 propeller for the Navy's E-2C and C-2A aircraft.
The company will build 188 NP2000s--with an option for 54 additional
units--to replace the old mechanically controlled, steel-spar, four-bladed
54460 propellers built by the same company.
* Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems has been awarded a $30.1 million
Air Force contract for long-lead advance procurement of items and material
for Lot 3 low-rate initial production of the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned
aerial vehicle. The contract will support production of one RQ-4A with
sensor suite; one RQ-4B with sensor suite and signals intelligence (SIGINT)
clip-in kit; two RQ-4Bs with SIGINT clip-in kits; one launch and recovery
element; one mission control element; and one basic sensor suite.
* Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) has begun a $64 million modernization
project at its Gulfport Operations to create the first large-scale advanced
composite structures manufacturing facility, which will be used to build
composite structures for Navy and Coast Guard ships. "Composite
technology is revolutionizing the shipbuilding industry," said Philip
A. Dur, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and president of NGSS. "Composite
materials are stiffer and stronger by weight than steel and aluminum
counterparts and result in a lighter-weight ship that will save the Navy
thousands of gallons of fuel." *
Navy Issues LCS Contracts
On 17 July 2003, the Navy announced that contracts have been awarded
to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works ($8.9 million); Lockheed Martin ($9.9
million); and Raytheon ($9.9 million) for development work on the LCS
(Littoral Combat Ship) program. Two other bids, submitted by Northrop
Grumman Ship Systems and Textron Marine Systems, have been set aside.
The Navy plans to select two concepts by late fiscal year 2004 for detailed
design and construction.
The LCS is a potentially $4 billion acquisition program aimed at the
Navy's requirement to operate closer to shore in future conflicts, countering
increasingly complex threats such as hard-to-detect mines; diesel electric
submarines; and small boats attacking in swarms. The Navy wants the LCS
to provide a robust and stable "seaframe" capable of sustaining
a 60-knot speed, supporting rotary-wing aviation, and evolving to greater
mission flexibility through separately developed equipment modules.
Also on the General Dynamics-led team is Australian catamaran manufacturer
Austal and Britain's BAE Systems, offering a "trimaran" or
triple-hull concept. Lockheed Martin's team--including Bollinger Shipyards,
Gibbs & Cox, Navatek Engineering, Marinette Marine, Germany's Blohm+Voss,
Spain's IZAR, and Italy's Fincantieri--has proposed a semiplaning monohull
called Sea Blade. Raytheon and John J. Mullen Associates Inc. partnered
with Norway's Umoe Mandal, Goodrich Composites, and Atlantic Marine to
offer a composite-hull surface effects ship. HCK
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