BALTIMORE, June 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has successfully conducted the first flight test of a new, fourth-generation variant of the AN/APG-77 active electronically scanned array radar for the U.S. Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter aircraft.
The new design is intended to reduce the production and maintenance costs of the Raptor's third-generation radar by adapting the design that was implemented successfully in the AN/APG-81 radar for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the AN/APG-80 for the Block 60 F-16 fighter. This newest variant requires significantly fewer parts than the third-generation, and the production line relies on a greater degree of automation.
In addition, Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector is developing software for the new radar that will enable it to perform high-resolution mapping of ground targets. This will permit true all-weather, precision strike capability that will transform the air dominance fighter into a multi-mission asset.
"We are proud to have developed this new capability for the F/A-22," said Jerry Dunnigan, director of F/A-22 Radar Programs at Northrop Grumman. "We believe that the transformational capabilities of high-resolution ground-mapping and automatic target cueing will ensure that Raptor pilots have all the information they need when they go in harm's way."
Based on current Department of Defense plans, Northrop Grumman will deliver approximately 203 of the new radars. These include retrofits for some of the third-generation radars already in service on operational aircraft. Northrop Grumman is conducting the flight-test program aboard one of its BAC 1-11 flying testbed aircraft. The company produces the radar under contract to The Boeing Company's (NYSE:BA) Integrated Defense Systems unit, which has responsibility for integrating the avionic systems for the F/A-22 program, which is led by Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) Aeronautics Company. Raytheon Systems of McKinney, Tex., is a joint-venture partner on the radar.
Based in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense and commercial electronic systems and sensors, including airborne radar, navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, precision weapons, airspace management systems, communications systems, space sensors, marine and naval systems, government systems, and logistics services.