On April 30, the US Army awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (Rolling Meadows, IL) a $959.1 million, five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (1D1Q) production contract for Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) systems. The contract provides justification and approval for the purchase of up to 596 CIRCM B-kit units over the contract period. The CIRCM system uses advanced Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) technology to protect US Army rotary-wing and medium fixed-wing aircraft against IR-guided missile threats. Speaking at a virtual media roundtable last month, LTC Preston Pysh, Product Manager for ASE Countermeasures within Program Manager Aircraft Sur-vivability Equipment (PM-ASE), described the process: "CIRCM receives a handoff from the aircraft's missile warning system (MWS) which then provides the defeat capability (laser targeting) to the missile. Although the aircrew is notified of the systems' actions, they [the MWS and CIRCM systems] work together autonomously and do not require crew interaction."
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