Tue, Jan 19, 2010
Lockheed Martin Developing New Threat Warning System For
Helicopters
The U.S. Navy recently awarded a $33 million
cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Lockheed Martin for the
technology demonstration phase of the Joint and Allied Threat
Awareness System (JATAS). The JATAS program will provide the next
generation threat warning system to protect U.S. Navy and Marine
Corps assault aircraft for increased survivability in hostile
environments.
Under the Technology Demonstration contract, Lockheed Martin
will partner with DRS Infrared Technologies in Dallas, TX, and
Goodrich ISR Systems in Danbury, CT, to design, develop and
demonstrate JATAS prototypes during a 16-month period of
performance ending January 2011. JATAS will provide rotary-wing
assault aircraft with an integrated infrared-based missile warning,
laser warning and hostile fire indication defensive suite.
"We're looking forward to leveraging more than two decades of
experience in infrared missile warning development, production and
field sustainment to provide an affordable JATAS threat warning
solution that will increase the survivability of the U.S. Navy and
Marine Corps' most valuable assets ? its pilots and aircrews," said
Matt Milligan, Platform Survivability program director at Lockheed
Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
Key requirements for JATAS include a modular open-system
architecture for plug-and-play capability and rapid technology
upgrade, improved performance in varying clutter environments with
minimal false alarms, as well as the ability to provide an upgraded
sensor suite under the very limited size, weight, power and cooling
requirements needed to preserve the aircraft's core mission load
carrying capability.
Another critical element to assault aircraft survivability and a
key requirement for JATAS is hostile fire indication - the ability
to detect, track and measure the proximity of rocket propelled
grenades and small arms fire. Under a recently completed Naval
Research Laboratory Hostile Fire Indicator contract, Lockheed
Martin successfully demonstrated a fully-capable hostile fire
indication system, showing that this capability is a mature
solution for JATAS.
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