Critical Milestones Reached In Next Generation Airborne Radar

SPACEWAR

An E-10A aircraft will operate separately and conjunction with the Global Hawk UAV.

El Segundo - Dec 18, 2003
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Air Force have received authorization from the Department of Defense to develop and produce hardware for an airborne radar system that will dramatically increase the service's ability to detect, track and identify both stationary and moving ground vehicles, and low-flying cruise missiles.

The Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board approved the acquisition strategy for the Air Force's Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) on Dec. 4. The endorsement, known as Milestone B, sets in motion a series of events expected to put Northrop Grumman, the MP-RTIP prime contractor, under contract for Phase II of the program by early 2004. Phase II marks the beginning of the MP-RTIP system development and demonstration phase.

MP-RTIP is a modular, active electronically scanned array radar system that can be scaled in size for integration on manned and unmanned airborne platforms. The Air Force plans to deploy the new radar on the RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance system and the E-10A Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A).

"MP-RTIP Milestone B is the beginning of a process that will produce a radar so technologically advanced it will remove 'surprise' from our enemies' lists of tactical options," said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman's MP-RTIP manager.

"Northrop Grumman and the Air Force have defined a streamlined, cost-effective development strategy that will put this high value asset in our nation's defensive arsenal within the next decade."

The development of the MP-RTIP radar will also strengthen Northrop Grumman's expertise as a "system of systems" integrator of battlefield systems. The radar's advanced signal detection and data collection capabilities add to the company's domain knowledge of battlefield information management techniques. This knowledge translates, in turn, into an enhanced ability to integrate, exploit and distribute data among systems in the integrated battle space.

The MP-RTIP acquisition plan approved by the Defense Acquisition Board provides a detailed look at Northrop Grumman's plans to design, produce, integrate, test and deliver the MP-RTIP radar. During Phase II, the Northrop Grumman-led team will produce six MP-RTIP radar systems: three for Global Hawk, three for the MC2A. The company plans to begin flight-testing the first Global Hawk development unit in 2006 and the first MC2A development unit in 2008.

Phase I of MP-RTIP began in December 2000 with a three-year, $303 million prime contract awarded to Northrop Grumman by the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector leads the overall MP-RTIP system design and development effort. The company's Electronic Systems sector, with locations in Baltimore; Norwalk, Conn. And Melbourne, Fla., is teamed with Raytheon Electronic Systems, El Segundo, to develop and produce the MP-RTIP hardware. Integrated Systems will integrate the radar on both Global Hawk and the E-10A aircraft.

EARTH OBSERVATION

Hyperion Hyperspectal Imager On-Orbit For Three Years

Redondo Beach - Dec 04, 2003
The Northrop Grumman-built Hyperion hyperspectal imager aboard NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite celebrated its third anniversary on-orbit Nov. 21. Originally intended to be on-orbit for one year, Hyperion has now operated for 300 percent of its original mission life.

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