LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md., 24 April 2005. Engineers at Northrop Grumman Corp. are making plans to design a new conformal-array radar system for airships.
U.S. Air Force leaders awarded a $8.7 million contract to the Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems sector in Linthicum Heights, Md., April 21 to develop a lightweight, low-power density Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology for the Integrated Sensor Structure program of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va.
The AESA to be developed is dual-band UHF and X-Band to be bonded to the flexible hull material of the airship. The goal of the contract is for Northrop Grumman experts to help DARPA determine if building flexible scanned array technology is feasible for airships.
Work will be finished by April 2008. Awarding the contract is the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y. The contract number is FA8750-06-C-0049.
