Sierra Nevada Corp. has secured a $700 million contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for the development and procurement of Radio Frequency Countermeasure (RFCM) systems.
The U.S Department of Defense said Wednesday that the Sierra Nevada won a $700 million for a contract to develop new Radio Frequency Countermeasures system to integrated onto AC-130J Ghostrider and MC-130J Commando II aircraft operated by Air Force Special Operations Command to help protect aircrews from air- and land-based enemy radar and missile systems.
This contract is funded with research, development, test and evaluation appropriation for fiscal 2020; and procurement appropriation for fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The RFCM suite is an integrated package of existing and future aircraft defensive systems which provides situational awareness and threat response processing that includes the advanced electronic warfare system, and future defensive systems.
The RFCM suite will provide special operation forces (SOF) operators with accurate and timely situational awareness information and improve aircraft survivability.
“We are excited to expand our solutions for SOF warfighters,” said Bob Horky, Senior Vice President for SNC’s ISR, Aviation and Security business area. “The aircraft they operate need the protection RFCM provides.”
SNC will incorporate Northrop Grumman Corporation’s RFCM system on aircraft to provide threat detection, precision geolocation, and active countermeasure capabilities. Advanced system processing and robust spectrum support significantly improve aircraft survivability in the modern threat environment. SNC’s approach to aircraft survivability emphasizes full platform integration leveraging platform datalinks, integrated processing, and common tactical display systems. SNC used its electromagnetic and aerodynamic modeling expertise to maximize the performance of the installed system.
SNC is a leading integrator for special mission aircraft, including USSOCOM AC‑130J and MC‑130J aircraft. As a significant supplier to the AC-130J Ghostrider Precision Strike Package and the prime contractor for the MC-130J Commando II Airborne Mission Networking systems, SNC brings novel approaches to integrating innovative technology to airborne platforms.
SNC is committed to providing customers with full usage rights, breaking original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vendor lock and supporting maximized innovation, enhanced competition and reduced system life-cycle costs.