Contract Award: DRS to enhance critical situational awareness on Growler aircrafts

News Report

As announced in a recent press release, Finmeccanica's DRS has been awarded a $7.9 million contract from Boeing to further design, develop and integrate the Joint Tactical Terminal – Receiver (JTT-R) for the EA-18G Growler aircraft, for which DRS has been supporting with initial JTT-R integration since July 2009.

The Technology

Joint Tactical Terminal provides critical data links to battle managers, intelligence centers, air defenders, fire support elements, and aviation nodes across all services and aboard airborne, sea-going, subsurface, and ground mobile mission platforms.

The JTT-R provides the capability to receive near real-time threat, survivor and Blue Force Tracking data for presentation of critical situational awareness information to the user. It receives this critical data via Integrated Broadcast Service and Common Interactive Broadcast waveforms over UHF Satellite Communications links. The JTT-R can be mounted in fixed and rotary wing aircraft, surface, and stationary or mobile ground platforms and vehicles to supply the tactical data link to battle managers, intelligence centres, air defence, fire support and aviation nodes.

Within the terms of the contract, The JTT-R serves as a replacement to the legacy U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler's Multi-mission Advanced Tactical Terminal (MATT), which is reaching end-of-life with the impending transition to the common interactive broadcast (CIB) waveform.

The U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler is a variant of the combat-proven F/A-18F Super Hornet Block II that conducts Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) missions. It is the U.S. Navy replacement for its current AEA aircraft, the EA-6B Prowler. Growler missions are mainly electronic attack (EA) and suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), particularly at the start and on-going early stages of hostilities.

Comments

“We are honored to support Boeing and the U.S. Navy by bringing this increased, critical situational awareness capability to the EA-18G Growler,” said DRS ICAS president Logen Thiran. “The JTT-R will further ensure this aircraft remains the most advanced U.S. Navy airborne electronic attack platform.”

References: DRS (1), Naval-Technology (2), argreenhouse (3)