ASIAN AEROSPACE 2002, SINGAPORE, Feb. 25, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Electronic Systems sector has been awarded a $20 million contract to provide AN/AAQ-24(V) NEMESIS directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) systems for the Australian Defence Force Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft being acquired under the Project Wedgetail program.
The Australian contract represents the first foreign sale of the NEMESIS system augmented with the Viper(TM) multiband laser.
The prime contractor for Project Wedgetail is The Boeing Company. The contract signed with Boeing's electronic warfare self-protection suite supplier, BAE SYSTEMS Australia Limited, runs through 2003.
A joint cooperative program between the United Kingdom and the United States, the NEMESIS DIRCM system uses infrared laser energy to disrupt the guidance systems of even the most advanced infrared or "heat-seeking" missiles. NEMESIS is currently the only such infrared countermeasures system in production worldwide.
"The use of the compact, solid-state Viper(TM) laser will greatly enhance the performance of an already well-proven system," said Arnold Welch, vice president of EO IR Countermeasures for the Defensive Systems Division in Rolling Meadows, Ill., where the NEMESIS system is manufactured. Viper(TM) is a cooperative development between Northrop Grumman and Fibertek Inc. of Herndon, Va.
The NEMESIS DIRCM system can be configured to protect both large fixed-wing transports and small rotary-wing aircraft. The U.S. Air Force's Materiel Command recently selected Northrop Grumman's NEMESIS system to protect its C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft from the threat posed by heat-seeking missiles.
Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense electronics systems including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, logistics systems, and automation and information systems.
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