$77.7M to NGC for Helicopter DIRCM

AAQ-24 on AH-64(click to view full) Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Rolling Meadows, IL recently receive an unfinalized contract estimated at $77.7 million for 121 AN/AAQ-24v25 Guardian laser transmitter assemblies for installation on US Navy and USMC CH-53D Sea Stallion, CH-53E Super Stallion, and CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters, including associated technical data. The AAQ-24 Guardian/Nemesis is a next-generation directable laser-based countermeasures system, based on the LAIRCM system for larger aircraft. The idea behind such Directional InfraRed Counter-Measures (DIRCM) systems is to aim appropriately coded laser pulses at an incoming missile’s seeker, decoying it away. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, IL (39%); Edinburgh, Scotland (16.8%); Goleta, CA (10%); Blacksburg, VA (9.4%); Boulder, CO (7.1%); Dallas, TX (5.5%); Lewisburg, TN (2%); Apopka, FL (1.8%); Woodland Hills, CA (1.3%); Tampa, FL (1%); Santa Clara, CA (1%); Melbourne, FL (1%); Wheeling, WVA (1%); and various locations throughout the U.S. (3.1%), and is expected to be completed in August 2012. This contract was not competitively procured by the US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River MD (N00019-10-C-0080).