Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Thursday was awarded a $450 million contract for production of its joint threat emitter (JTE) electronic warfare threat simulator for the U.S. military and foreign allies.

The indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract includes JTE production end-items, spares, support equipment, testing and training for U.S. agencies and U.S. partner countries, according to the contract announcement. Work will be performed in Buffalo, N.Y., and elsewhere in the United States and around the globe, and is expected to be completed by December 2025.

Northrop Grumman's Joint Threat Emitter. Photo: Northrop Grumman.
Northrop Grumman’s Joint Threat Emitter. Photo: Northrop Grumman.

JTE is a mobile air defense electronic warfare threat simulator that provides high-fidelity replication of surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery threats for aircrew training, according to Northrop. It is easily relocatable, reactive to aircrew and aircraft for fast jet, fixed-wing and rotary-wing defensive measures, and can be rapidly reprogrammed with new threat parameters.

The system offers realistic effective radiated power levels that has the capability to simultaneously simulate different types of threats in the surface-to-air missile family, including those categorized as single-digit and double-digit threats.

The award is the result of a competitive acquisition for which one offer was received, according to the Defense Department. Over $9 million in fiscal year 2018 funds are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity.

Northrop did not respond to requests for comment by Defense Daily’s deadline Friday.

This past February, the company received a $75 million contract from Saudi Arabia for JTE support in the Gulf state (Defense Daily, Feb. 9). Northrop Grumman had deployed 23 JTE systems domestically and internationally as of that contract award.