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AN/AAQ-24 DIRCM
AAQ-24(V) LAIRCM
IOC: 2005
Also Known As:
AN/AAQ-24V(13)
Origin:United States of America
Contractor/s:
Northrop Grumman
Description:
The LAIRCM (Large Aircraft IR CounterMeasures) has been developed to protect US large aircraft from IR guided man-portable surface-to-air missiles. It is a derivative of the proven AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis Directional IR CounterMeasure (DIRCM) system. LAIRCM uses missile warning system to detect and incoming missile, then the protection system directs a pointer-tracker to the missile's seeker jamming it with a IR laser energy beam.
The system is a fully autonomous system not requiring inputs coming from the aircraft crew. LAIRCM is being offered to the commercial aviation segment as a protection mechanism against any potential terrorist attack using man-portable, shoulder-launced surface-to-air missiles.
To date, LAIRCM has been selected for integration onto the US Air Force (USAF) C-5B, C-130 and C-17 cargo aircraft; the MC-130H Talon special operations aircraft; and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) A330 tanker and 737 AEW&C. As of July 2005, the USAF had contracts on order for integration of LAIRCM high-intensity modulated laser beam countermeasures on 56 C-17s through 2007.
In July 2006, the US Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman the first order of an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at roughly $50 million to deliver LAIRCM hardware for installation on C-17 and C-130 transport aircrafts. The five-year IDIQ could be worth $3.2 billion including spares and related services. The contract will expire by December 2010 and will support potential foreign military sales of LAIRCM laser-based countermeasure system.
The US Air Force awarded Northrop-Grumman a $104.6 million contract to provide LAIRCM countermeasures to NATO NE-3A AEW&C aircraft fleet on November 3, 2006. The contract comprises 17 Group A kits, 7 Group B kits, 10 additional Group B kits without small laser transmitter assemblies, and supporting spares. Two trial aircraft - one in the United States and a second one in Germany - will be equipped with LAIRCM countermeasures that might be enhanced if needed following the challenge posed by E-3's radar system. Implementation work was expected to be complete December 2009.
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Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
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Last Updated: Sunday, July 13, 2008
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