Steve Nichols
Northrop Grumman has landed at Paris with news of major new contracts for its radar products.
The Polish air agency (PATA) needs an update to its airspace management system (AMS) that, when complete, will provide additional flight safety and improved en-route services to Central Europe.
The AMS is based on an open architecture system that will allow future growth and upgrades.
PATA's original AMS and associated ASR-9 airport surveillance radar, and three long-range monopulse secondary surveillance radars (MSSR), were delivered and integrated over the past several years.
Northrop Grumman's original contract included delivery of an ASR-9 and MSSR to Warsaw airport as well as standalone MSSRs at Poznan and Pultusk.
Tunisia has also selected the company to supply an MSSR to improve radar coverage and flight safety in southern Tunisian airspace. The new radar complements an existing Northrop Grumman airspace management system and ASR-9 airport surveillance radar at Tunis and the long range MSSR at Sidi Zid.
The company has supplied ATC systems to more than 20 countries, while its wholly-owned subsidiary Park Air Electronics has systems in 150 nations.
Northrop Grumman has also won a $38 million contract from the US Army for 34 tactical endurance synthetic aperture radars (TESAR) for the Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV).
TESAR was successfully deployed in Bosnia in 1996 for peacekeeping purposes and provides photograph-type imagery through cloud, fog and other weather conditions.
Longbow LLC, a Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman joint venture, has been awarded a five-year contract to build 10,400 Longbow Hellfire missiles and associated equipment in a deal worth up to $1.2 billion.
The Longbow Hellfire is a radar-guided version of the fire-and-forget anti-armour missile that has made a name for itself on the Apache attack helicopter.
Source: Flight Daily News
