ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., 26 Sept. 2005. Systems engineers at the Northrop Grumman Defensive Systems Division in Rolling Meadows, Ill., are coming to grips with obsolete parts in the AN/ALQ-155 electronic warfare system.
U.S. Air Force officials are asking Northrop Grumman to provide engineering services to resolve obsolete parts and vanishing vendor issues with the ALQ-155 system's line replacement units.
Northrop Grumman is doing the work under terms of a $6 million contract awarded Sept. 23 from the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. The contract number is F09603-03-D-0002-0065.
This contract also asks Northrop Grumman to increase the reliability and maintainability of the subassemblies in the line replacement units of the ALQ-155, which is an electronic warfare jammer for the B-52 jet bomber designed to give the aircraft 360-degree protection from radar-guided missiles.
Northrop Grumman will do the work in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and will be finished in March, 2007.
Northrop Grumman is in the midst of upgrading the ALQ-155 to digital technology from obsolescent analog technology. The system's update project involves installing digital replacement cards for the system's control indicator-programmer portion.
The digital replacement cards use field-programmable gate-array technology that enables them to be updated through software changes. The new cards also have the capability of updating the ALQ-155's self-protection techniques in minutes to adjust to evolving threats.
Northrop Grumman also is updating the ALQ-155 with miniature microwave-power module-transmitter technology, integrated, monolithic microwave and digital exciter systems, and commercial processors.
