The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for full-rate production of the CIRCM (Common Infrared Countermeasure) system. The award follows the Army’s approval for the system to enter full-rate production based on design maturity and demonstrated production capability.
The lightweight, laser-based countermeasure system uses advanced Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) technology and will be used to protect US Army rotary-wing and medium fixed-wing aircraft against infrared-guided missiles, shoulder-fired, vehicle-launched, and other missiles threats.
“CIRCM’s cutting-edge capability has been proven against the most advanced threats and the modular open systems approach brings flexibility for the future,” said Bob Gough, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop Grumman. “Northrop Grumman and our partners have proven the mature production capacity to deliver and support the U.S. Army’s mission with this life-saving technology today, and for years to come.”
With a foundation of Lean-Agile software development, the system is built on an open architecture that works with existing hardware, simplifies upgrades, and keeps lifecycle costs low. CIRCM also meets demanding size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements, to offer industry leading capability for a variety of SWaP restrictive platforms for the U.S. and its allies.
