U.S. Navy awards infrared sensors contract to Northrop Grumman

Rolling Meadows, IL--Northrop Grumman has won an early operational production contract to deliver Advanced Threat Warning sensors to the U.S. Navy, part of the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures system.

Conard Holton

June 26, 2012

Rolling Meadows, IL--Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) has won an early operational production contract to deliver Advanced Threat Warning (ATW) sensors to the U.S. Navy, part of the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system. ATW provides infrared sensors that warn of heat-seeking missiles, small arms fire, medium-caliber machine gun fire, anti-aircraft artillery, unguided rockets, and laser-guided weapons.

The $25.5 million contract requires Northrop Grumman to deliver 110 ATW sensors and upgrade 200 processors for integration as part of the currently fielded LAIRCM system. The ATW sensor is compatible with the currently deployed LAIRCM missile warning system and can be integrated with a variety of onboard displays including threat warning indicators, multifunction displays, and helmet-mounted displays.

This award builds on the $35 million contract awarded to Northrop Grumman in 2011 by the Naval Air Systems Command to develop upgrades to the fielded LAIRCM infrared missile warning system. The company's IRCM systems are now installed or scheduled for installation on more than 700 U.S. military aircraft.

About the Author

Conard Holton

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.