US Army Acquires Common Missile Warning Systems for Apache Helicopters

BAE Systems has received a contract to supply its AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) and associated equipment as part of a U.S. Foreign Military Sales contract worth $22 million. 

The deal – facilitated by the U.S. Army – is for the production and delivery of CMWS for a fleet of Apache helicopters.

The CMWS alerts crews to incoming hostile fire and missile threats, automatically coordinates and cues countermeasures, and enables data recording capabilities for post-mission analysis. 

The fleet will leverage BAE Systems’ new Gen3X Electronic Control Unit with updated components which provide increased processing capabilities and longer term sustainability.

“Our Common Missile Warning System is a tried-and-true, electronic warfare system that protects aircraft and their crews in the most complex battlespaces,” said Chris Austin, director of Threat Detection Solutions at BAE Systems. “We are honored to have been selected to provide this critical capability.”

Deployed across the U.S. Army’s rotary and fixed-wing fleet, as well as aircraft of 17 allied countries, more than 3,000 CMWS units have been installed on over 40 different platforms since 2005. The CMWS has logged approximately 4 million combat theater flight hours.