ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Jan. 9, 2001, (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (ES3) has received a $30 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide 17 AN/ALQ-135 Band 1.5 electronic countermeasures (ECM) subsystems for the F-15E fighter. Work on the contract is to be completed by December 2001.
The contract follows notification from the Air Force that the AN/ALQ-135 Band 1.5 has successfully passed Initial Operational Test and Evaluation. This milestone verifies that the system has met service criteria and can enter into full-rate production for the F-15E fighter aircraft.
An internally mounted radar countermeasures system designed and developed for the Air Force's F-15 fleet, the AN/ALQ-135 has been designated by the Air Force as "mission essential" for all combat F-15E's.
"The Band 1.5 lot II contract award and the successful transition to full-rate production ensures essential safeguards against deadly threats that pose danger to the F-15E," said Bill Ober, vice president-RF Electronic Warfare Programs at Northrop Grumman.
"This addition of Band 1.5 will enable the ECM system to provide for both high- and low-band coverage of the F-15E, thus making it the most well-protected fighter aircraft in the Air Force's inventory."
In October 2000, the system successfully completed the first operational installation, with follow-on work currently under way at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. The project is managed by the F-15 Development System Program office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The AN/ALQ-135 has now operated in more than 6,600 hours of combat, beginning with Desert Storm and continuing through recent operations in the Balkans and Kosovo without a single aircraft loss due to threats covered by the ECM system.
Northrop Grumman ES3, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense electronics and systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, space systems, marine systems, logistics systems, and automation and information systems.
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