New Technology Should Hit The Fleet In Four Years
Northrop Grumman Corporation has opened a new electronic-warfare
systems-integration laboratory that it says will be used to support
the development of the airborne electronic-attack system for the US
Navy's EA-18G aircraft. The system is scheduled to begin entering
the fleet in 2009.
The company's Bethpage organization, part of the Integrated
Systems sector, was selected to be the airborne electronic-attack
system integrator for the EA-18G. The lab will enhance Northrop
Grumman's four decades of industry leadership in this
specialized
business area and is one of the many software laboratories that
comprise the company's electronic attack laboratory complex.
"After decades of success with the electronic-warfare
capabilities of the EA-6B Prowler, the Navy will transition to the
EA-18G to continue our nation's domination of the electronic battle
space," said Patricia McMahon, vice president and Integrated
Product
Team lead for Electronic Warfare Programs in Northrop Grumman
Integrated Systems. "This laboratory will ensure the successful
development of the EA-18G and will help reinforce an industry
position we've held for decades as the world's leading systems
integrator in airborne electronic attack."
The Navy selected a team led by Boeing and Northrop Grumman to
build upon the recently introduced improved capability (ICAP) III
airborne electronic-attack system, which was developed for the
current Prowler fleet, and design a new system for the Prowler's
eventual replacement, the F/A-18E/F derivative called the EA-18G.
The first ICAP III Prowler was delivered to the Navy this year. The
first squadron - VAQ-139 - is now working up to its first
deployment. The ICAP III is the latest of five generations of EA-6B
airborne electronic-attack systems designed to identify, degrade
and destroy enemy radar-guided air defense and communication
systems.
"We needed this new laboratory to build on the ICAP III system
and its strengths. It is the foundation for the EA-18G and its
future capabilities for our Navy customer," said McMahon. "The war
on terrorism has shown us that we need to give our forces more
tools to negate terrorists' weaponry and their ability to
communicate and coordinate using advanced electronics. The ICAP III
Prowler does that today, and the EA-18G will do even more in the
future."
Using the lab, the EA-18G team will further develop the new
electronic-attack technologies now in Northrop Grumman's ICAP III
weapon system and integrate them with newly developed airborne
electronic-attack weapon-system management capabilities.
Among them is Northrop Grumman's Electronic Warfare Battle
Management software, which enables multiplatform,
machine-to-machine integration by associating, correlating and
fusing tactically significant electronic-warfare data and optimizes
the system's rapid
selective-reactive jamming system algorithms, particularly across
multiple platforms.