Jan. 6 (UPI) — The Navy has awarded BAE Systems with a $4 million contract to conduct a quick-turnaround demonstration of a new radio frequency countermeasure system for the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
According to BAE, the RFCM system is a light-weight, high-power system that will add a new self-protection capability to the Poseidon.
“The ability to meet this unprecedented response time underscores our agility, focus on meeting customer needs, and our ultimate goal of protecting our warfighters,” said Don Davidson, director of the Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions product line at BAE. “A process that used to take 18 to 24 months has been scaled to five or six months, which is remarkable, as is deploying this new self-protection capability.”
BAE said it plans to design, build, integrate, and ship the RFCM system in about five months.
The RFCM system consists of a small form factor jammer, a high-powered amplifier and the AN/ALE-55 Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy.
Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon is a modified version of the company’s 737-800ERX, developed for the U.S. Navy and in use by the India’s Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force Britain’s Royal Air Force.
The Navy received its 100th Poseidon in May.
