March 1, 3:35 EST
BALTIMORE Engineers at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector will be providing AN/AAQ-24(V) NEMESIS directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) systems for the Australian Defense Force Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft under the Project Wedgetail program.

The Australian contract represents the first foreign sale of the NEMESIS system augmented with the Viper multiband laser, Northrop Grumman officials say. The prime contractor for Project Wedgetail is Boeing in Seattle. The contract, which was signed with Boeing's electronic warfare self-protection suite supplier, BAE Systems Australia Limited, runs through 2003.

The NEMESIS DIRCM system, a joint cooperative program between the United Kingdom and the U.S., uses infrared laser energy to disrupt the guidance systems of infrared or "heat-seeking" missiles, Northrop Grumman officials say. NEMESIS is currently the only such infrared countermeasures system in production worldwide, company officials claim.

"The use of the compact, solid-state Viper laser will greatly enhance the performance of an already well-proven system," says Arnold Welch, vice president of EO IR Countermeasures for the Defensive Systems Division in Rolling Meadows, Ill., where the NEMESIS system is manufactured.

Viper is a cooperative development between Northrop Grumman and Fibertek Inc. of Herndon, Va. The NEMESIS DIRCM system can be configured to protect both large fixed-wing transports and small rotary-wing aircraft, Northrop Grumman officials say. The U.S. Air Force's Materiel Command recently selected Northrop Grumman's NEMESIS system to protect its C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft from the threat posed by heat-seeking missiles, company officials say.

For more information on Northrop Grumman's Electronics Systems sector contact the company on the World Wide Web at http://www.northropgrumman.com. For more information on Fibertek contact the company on the World Wide Web at http://www.fibertek.com.

Military & Aerospace Electronics