April 16, 2024 | International, C4ISR
July 16, 2020 | International, Land
US Army awards $179M missile warning contract to BAE Systems
By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a contract for the first two production lots of its Limited Interim Missile Warning System, or LIMWS.
The contract, which is worth $179 million, also includes funding to field the next-generation Missile Warning System, an upgrade on the Army's Common Missile Warning System.
“Threats are evolving and proliferating at a rapid pace and our aircrews who fly into harm's way need the most advanced protection systems available,” Chris Austin, director of threat detection solutions at BAE Systems, said in a statement. “These orders follow an intensive two-year development and qualification program, made possible by a strong industry-government partnership focused on achieving an aggressive schedule.”
The company won an initial $98 million contract to produce the systems in April 2018, with the goal of putting the capability onto 400 Black Hawk helicopters. A BAE spokeswoman this week declined to comment on what systems the LIMWS might deploy on. The Army competitively awarded that initial contract to BAE through a quick reaction capability mechanism, which bypasses the traditional lengthy acquisition process.
The core of the upgrade is BAE's 2-Color Advanced Warning System, or 2CAWS, which the company says includes “an open system processor, two-color infrared sensors for increased range, and a fiber optic A-kit for faster data transmission.” Put simply, the 2CAWS should allow pilots to receive signals of incoming threats more quickly than before, and should be compatible with existing Army missile warning systems.
Work will occur at the company's Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Huntsville, Alabama, facilities, the latter of which is undergoing upgrades for the project.
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September 15, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Northrop, Leonardo take the plunge together for future unmanned rotorcraft efforts
The two companies have joined forces to pursue the nascent vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned systems market.
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October 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval
Navy Issues Sikorsky $550.4 Million Modification for 6 CH-53Ks
Mallory Shelbourne This post has been updated to include a new photo of the CH-53K from Sikorsky. The Navy has issued Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky a $550.4 million contract modification for the next lot of the Marine Corps' new heavy-lift helicopter. The Navy awarded Sikorsky the funds for six CH-53K King Stallions as part of lot 4 of the program's low-rate initial production phase, according to an Oct. 26 Pentagon contract announcement. “The production of this CH-53K helicopter represents a new era in capabilities, technologies, safety and mission flexibility for the U.S. Marine Corps,” Bill Falk, the CH-53K program director for Sikorsky, said in a statement. “Sikorsky is committed to supporting the Marine Corps to maximize the benefits of this all-new helicopter,” he added. “Pilots are already training on state-of-the art flight training devices to prepare in a safe, cost-effective manner for operational deployment.” The Navy anticipates Sikorsky finishing the work in July 2024, according to the announcement. USNI News previously reported that the Navy restructured the CH-53K test program to address technical deficiencies discovered on the test aircraft. Sikorsky and the Marine Corps announced the two had found a fix to one of the main problems – exhaust gas reingestion – in December 2019. The Navy decreased the number of aircraft it planned to purchase in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget request because it had not yet identified fixes to several technical problems. Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the former Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Aviation, told the House Armed Service tactical air and land forces subcommittee earlier this year that the service was ready to increase the rate of production in hopes of bringing cost of the aircraft down. “The higher the numbers, the greater the learning curve from production,” Rudder told the panel of lawmakers at the time. “As we saw with F-35, as we ramp production, the cost curve comes down.” https://news.usni.org/2020/10/27/navy-issues-sikorsky-550-4-million-modification-for-6-ch-53ks