Contract for LAIRCM Aircraft Defense Sytems Worth up to $3.2B

LAIRCM Concept(click to view full) With the proliferation of global terrorism and its continuing links to state sponsors, the threat of man-portable anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) continues to receive attention. The USA’s response has been multi-layered, from programs to remove surplus MANPADS from arsenals around the world to systems like the ATIRCM/CMWS, the AN/ALQ-144 “disco ball,” and LAIRCM for its aircraft. See esp. Military Aerospace Technology’s article “Protecting the Big Birds.” Proposals are even being discussed to require these kinds of countermeasures on all civilian aircraft (Israel is already doing this). Northrop Grumman’s Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) is a laser-based countermeasures system that can defend a wide range of aircraft from an infrared missile attack by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat, and activating a high-intensity system of pulsed lasers to track and defeat the threat by confusing its guidance head. LAIRCM: Contracts, Modifications & Delivery Orders LAIRCM & mount The U.S. Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base recently issued a 5-year, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to deliver LAIRCM system hardware and support for the C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules family of transport aircraft. The contract includes systems engineering, program management, […]