Northrop Grumman Corporation has signed a contract worth $160 million with The Boeing Company to deliver four Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar systems for Turkey's "Peace Eagle" 737 airborne early warning and control program.

The Turkish government selected the Boeing-led team in 2001.

Contract negotiations were completed in late 2002, and the Peace Eagle program officially started in July 2003. Delivery of the four MESA systems is scheduled to begin in August 2005 and conclude in June 2007. Boeing is slated to deliver the first fully integrated aircraft to Turkey in July 2007, with the fourth delivery scheduled for June 2008.

Designed under contract to Boeing for the launch customer, the Australian Defence Force's Project Wedgetail, the multiband MESA radar is integrated into a modified 737-700 aircraft. Mounted on the top aft section of the fuselage, the antenna enables a 360-degree azimuth scan with no mechanical rotation. It provides multiple surveillance applications, using pulse Doppler radar forms for aerial search and pulse forms for maritime surface search, as well as an integrated identification friend-or-foe capability that uses the same aperture.

"The importance of this second customer for the 737 MESA cannot be overemphasized," said William R. Adams, vice president of Airborne Surveillance Systems at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. "Turkey's order folds nicely into our production effort for Australia's Wedgetail program, and it positions the product line to take advantage of near-term opportunities in other friendly nations as well."

The MESA antenna consists of an advanced composite structure that supports side-emitting electronic manifold arrays and a "top hat" end-firing array. Its ultra-light foam sandwich construction enables state-of-the-art performance at a fraction of current system weights, allowing additional time on station for the aircraft.

The first MESA antenna for Project Wedgetail was rolled out in October 2002 at Northrop Grumman's Baltimore facility and installed on the company's test range for integration and pattern testing. It will be delivered to the Boeing military flight center in Seattle in September 2003 for integration with the airframe. The first test flight is scheduled for May 2004. The production effort then supports an interleaved schedule for both customers.

FMI: www.northropgrumman.com; www.es.northropgrumman.com