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January 8, 4:52 EST
MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Jan. 8, 2002 -- Officials at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., recently chose Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems' Airborne Ground Surveillance and Battle Management (AGS&BM) business unit to demonstrate the next phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) program.
AGS&BM will develop, integrate, and demonstrate system technologies required for precision engagement of moving surface threats from long range, Northrop Grumman officials say. Work should be completed in November 2002, company officials say.
"The success we had in the earlier AMSTE phase demonstrates our commitment to developing and integrating cost-effective system of systems solutions," says Alan Doshier, sector vice president at AGS&BM Systems. "Integrating surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike platforms give the warfighter real-time solutions for effectively stopping mobile forces."
In August 2001, the Northrop Grumman team successfully demonstrated the capability to precisely engage a moving a seekerless weapon. The test, conducted in overcast conditions at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., scored a direct hit through the top center of a moving vehicle on the first try, Northrop Grumman officials say. For this next phase, the team will explore employing the Northrop Grumman-developed E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), the Global Hawk unmanned platform, the B-2 stealth bomber, and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems' BAC 1-11 test bed with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter radar sensor. In addition, the team plans to use the Navy's F/A-18 and airborne P-3 test bed, "Hairy Buffalo," which is equipped with the Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems-developed APY-6 radar, company officials say.
Weapons being considered for the next test include a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from Boeing in Seattle and the newly developed On-target Weapon, Long-range munition from Lockheed Martin Corp. in Bethesda, Md. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Orlando, Fla., will provide a weapon and precision navigation capability, Northrop Grumman officials say. Boeing in St. Louis, Mo., will modify an inventoried JDAM weapon. Orincon in San Diego, Calif., brings precision fire control target-tracking capabilities to the Integrated Systems AMSTE team. Alphatech of Burlington, Mass., provides technology used in long-duration target tracking. Neural Computing Systems, LLC in Irvine, Calif., will develop a scattering-based computer-aided tomography approach to target modeling and discrimination using high-range resolution and synthetic aperture radar data, company officials say.
Northrop Grumman's AGS&BM Systems, a business unit of the company's Integrated Systems sector, is the development and production site for the Air Force's Joint STARS program, the world's most advanced battle management asset, Northrop Grumman officials say.
For more information contact Northrop Grumman on the World Wide Web at http://www.northropgrumman.com.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
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