Clifton, NJ--After the recent announcement that a quantum-cascade laser (QCL) from Daylight Solutions (San Diego, CA) had been incorporated into Northrop Grumman’s (Rolling Meadows, IL) infrared countermeasures (IRCM) solution, ITT Corporation (NYSE:ITT) announced that it has partnered with Daylight Defense, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daylight Solutions, and fully integrated a QCL-based system into its next-generation Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) solution. ITT’s CIRCM, when fielded, will provide protection from heat-seeking missiles for U.S. and allied helicopters.
"As promised in our proposal response to the Army, we are integrating a quantum cascade laser--the cutting edge of laser technology--into our system," said Robert Ferrante, VP of ITT Electronic Systems’ Airborne Electronic Attack business. "Daylight’s approach has resulted in an excellent solution for ITT’s CIRCM system, offering a dependable, modular technology for our customers and, ultimately, the warfighter."
ITT’s CIRCM solution for the Army is a modular open-systems design philosophy that enables its system to take full advantage of the best components from the defense and commercial sectors. ITT says this approach provides the ability to leverage technology advances and continually add new capabilities to address future threats and environments.
While ITT and Daylight have worked together for several years, the delivery of this fully functional laser system represents the latest in QCL systems provided by Daylight to ITT. ITT had previously integrated an earlier version of Daylight’s fiber-coupled QCL-based JammIR laser system into its IRCM (infrared countermeasures) system and has conducted several successful flight tests aboard U.S. military UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
For the CIRCM program, ITT has selected the best solutions from the commercial and defense sectors and integrated these with specially developed components such as its pointer-tracker unit, which tracks incoming threats and directs the Daylight laser to disorient them.
"Daylight is honored to have been selected by ITT for this critical piece of its system," said Timothy Day, CEO of Daylight Solutions. "Our team has worked closely with ITT to optimize the performance of our laser system for the company’s CIRCM offering. We are committed to building a world-class manufacturing organization that will scale with our customers such as ITT."
SOURCE: ITT Corporation; www.itt.com