Article Posted on : - Apr 30, 2012

HERNDON, VIRGINIA (BNS): The US Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $52.8 million, 27-month engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract to upgrade its electronic attack (EA) pods.

The programme has a potential value of $480 million including EMD, a low-rate initial production phase (LRIP) and five production options.

Northrop Grumman's solution, an upgraded ALQ-131 EA pod, is fully capable of operating in support of A-10, C-130, F-15 and F-16 aircraft and aircrews.

"The Northrop Grumman team designed an innovative solution that provides our U.S. Air Force pilots with the electronic warfare protection they need while flying combat operations," Tom Vice, corporate vice president and sector president, Northrop Grumman Technical Services said in the company statement.

The company has delivered more than 500 digital radio frequency memories which are installed on F-16s and other modern fighter aircraft.