Northrop Grumman Awarded $388 Million B-2 Bomber Radar Contract
El Segundo, CA -- Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $388 million contract by the U.S. Air Force for the next phase of a program to modernize the B-2 radar system. This program continues the efforts of the Air Force and Northrop Grumman to enhance the stealth bomber's ability to operate as part of the military's increasingly integrated force structure.
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector, the B-2 prime contractor, is leading the radar modernization effort, which will replace the current radar antenna with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna. Raytheon Company's Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, which provided the original B-2 radar, is the principal subcontractor.
During the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase, Northrop Grumman will develop and test the antenna and integrate six new radar systems on B-2 aircraft for initial demonstration and operational training.
The subsequent production and deployment phase will include low-rate initial production and full-rate production to field the upgraded radar. Installation of the new antenna into the B-2 fleet will take several years to complete.
The new radar system will resolve conflicts in radio frequency usage between the B-2 and commercial systems and allow future upgrades to improve radar performance. In addition to replacing the antenna, Northrop Grumman will modify the B-2 defensive management system and the radar transponder to support the change in operating frequency.
Northrop Grumman's work on the radar modernization program began in October 2002 with the component advanced development phase. The entire program is estimated to be worth more than $900 million to the company through 2011.
Northrop Grumman performs its B-2 radar work in Palmdale, CA. In addition to Raytheon, subcontractors include Lockheed Martin Corporation in Owego, NY, for defensive management system modifications and BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration in Greenlawn, NY, for radar transponder modifications.
The radar modernization and other efforts to upgrade the B-2 will improve its ability to communicate and exchange data with joint force commanders, and share updated target information during a mission. Under another program, Northrop Grumman recently delivered the first B-2 with a specially formulated coating developed to improve the aircraft's combat readiness. Still another significant improvement is a bomb rack assembly that enables the B-2 to deliver up to 80 "smart" (GPS-guided) weapons on a single pass, five times as many as its current capacity.
Source: Northrop Grumman