Northrop Grumman Corp. announced today that it has been awarded the first delivery order of an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at a potential $49.5 million by the U.S. Air Force, Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to deliver Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system hardware and support for the C-17 and C-130 transport aircrafts. The five year IDIQ contract has an expected ceiling of $3.2 billion.
The IDIQ contract will specifically require system hardware, support equipment and services to include: systems engineering, program management, logistics and spares in addition to installation, installation support and field service support for C-17 and C-130 aircraft. The IDIQ contract will further allow for the purchase of LAIRCM hardware for foreign military sales and other government agencies. The ordering period runs through December 2010.
“The IDIQ contract establishes an order agreement that will streamline procurement process for years to come allowing quick and effective means for U.S. forces to obtain LAIRCM systems,” said Jeff Palombo, vice president of Infrared Countermeasures at Northrop Grumman’s Defensive Systems Division.
Northrop Grumman’s LAIRCM system is a laser-based countermeasures system that protects large fixed-wing transports and small rotary-wing aircraft from an infrared missile attack by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat and activating a high-intensity countermeasure system to track and defeat the threat.