The Army has tapped Northrop Grumman [NOC] to develop its next-generation of radar threat warning sensors designed to improve detection of new anti-aircraft weapon threats, the company said Monday.
The new AN/APR-39E(V)2 is Northrop Grumman’s latest digital radar warning receiver for the Army and will employ rapid software updates to account for new threat capabilities.
“Sophisticated radio frequency-guided weapons are becoming more widely used throughout the world, posing a new threat to aviators in contested airspace. Protecting aircrews from this new generation of highly mobile anti-aircraft weapons requires the ability to track a broader variety of threats across a wider spectral range,” company officials said in a statement.
Army officials previously awarded Northrop Grumman a $124.7 million contract in December 2017 to deliver the AN/APR-39D(V)2 digital radar warning receiver and electronic warfare management system for both the Army and Navy.
AN/APR-39E(V)2 is an updated system to account for airborne threats at greater ranges.
“The AN/APR-39E(V)2 will see more threats, including millimeter wave radars, at greater range. That advanced level of protection is critical to our customers’ mission success,” Brent Toland, vice president of Northrop Grumman’s land and avionics C4ISR division, said in a statement.
Northrop Grumman officials said the new radar warning receiver combines the company’s “digital receiver exciter (DRE) architecture with novel digital signal processing algorithms.”
The DRE architecture will allow for rapid software updates to account for changes to the threat landscape.