$124.5M for 3 Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems (ALMDS)

Laser mine finder(click to view full) Northrop Grumman Corp. Airborne Ground Surveillance and Battle Management Systems in Melbourne, FL received a $124.5 million firm-fixed-price/ incentives letter contract for 3 Low-Rate Initial Production units of the AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS). Rear Admiral William E. Landay, the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Officer for littoral and mine warfare (q.v. recent U.S. doctrinal changes in that area), said ALMDS “represents the first new technology to be applied to mine [hunting] since the advent of sonar.” In addition, Northrop Grumman has now released additional information about the devices and the program. H-60S Knight Hawk The AN/AES-1 ALMDS is a Light Detection and Ranging Airborne Mine Countermeasures high area coverage system that detects, classifieds, and localizes floating and near-surface moored sea mines using a blue-green laser. This gets around the inherent flight and drag limitations of towing bulky gear in the water, which allows faster area search. It also lets a helicopter image an entire ocean area and move on without stopping to recover equipment. The initial contract awarded a total of $45.5 million for a low-rate initial production (LRIP) of three AN/AES-1 ALMDS pods. The contract calls for options totaling $79 million […]