ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., 2 Feb, 2013. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has delivered the first of eight Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) missile defense systems to the U.S. Army two months ahead of schedule.

Northrop Grumman successfully completed acceptance testing with the Army on the first CIRCM suite of equipment and delivered a complete hardware set. This testing, which confirmed system performance, size, weight and power (SWaP) compliance, was completed two months ahead of schedule and validates the Northrop Grumman offering as capable and mature.

CIRCM is a lightweight, reliable, laser-based countermeasure system designed to work with missile warning systems for rotary wing, tilt-rotor and small fixed-wing aircraft across the military services. Northrop Grumman is developing its solution with its partners SELEX Galileo and Daylight Solutions.

The system was delivered under a $31.4 million technology demonstration contract to develop the next generation of aircraft survivability equipment to defend helicopters against man-portable air-defense systems and other heat-seeking munitions. The system is now scheduled to enter reliability testing.