Northrop Grumman [NOC] yesterday said it will field the first systems in the upgraded RC-12X Guardrail fleet under a recent Army task order providing the service with unparalleled signals intelligence (SIGINT) capability.
“The RC-12X will bring unprecedented SIGINT capability to the warfighter,” said Trip Carter, director for Northrop Grumman’s Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (AISR) initiatives. “We are excited with this latest step toward making this a reality for their missions and are eager to continue to work with the Army to make the system operational as soon as possible.”
The fielding is a critical step in making the mission-critical capability operational, scheduled for second quarter of this year, officials said.
The RC-12X Guardrail is the Army’s premier airborne SIGINT sensor and ground processing system, providing instantaneous precision geo-location and identification of threats to enable the brigade combat team’s Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit, Analyze and Disseminate (F3EAD) battle command process.
The RC-12X Guardrail Modernization program extends the life of the aircraft through 2025 and introduces new payloads to the system with enhanced capabilities to sense and exploit emerging and rapidly evolving irregular and conventional warfare threats. The program also enhances the sustainability of the RC-12X through commonality, a new glass cockpit, structural upgrades, and significant hardware and software improvements.
In 2007, Northrop Grumman was awarded the Guardrail Modernization system integration contract to continue upgrading and improving the system. At that point, the five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with one five-year option was potentially worth $462 million (Defense Daily, Sept. 5 2007).
The first two upgraded planes left the Northrop Grumman facility in Sacramento on Jan. 8. The aircraft are under going final outfitting with the Army in Europe before heading to theater.
The second two aircraft are in the final stages of their cockpit upgrades and will be deploying to theater within the next month. These initial four systems will complete final outfitting and testing during the first quarter of 2011 before becoming fully operational.
An additional 10 RC-12Xs will be fielded in 2011-2012 raising the total modernized Guardrail fleet to 14 systems.