General Dynamics (GD) Advanced Information Systems has received a contract from the US Navy to produce and deliver Type-3 advanced mission computers (AMC) in support of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft.
Under the $19.3m contract, GD will deliver 76 forward fit Type-3 AMCs, which will serve as nerve centre of the aircraft to provide situational awareness and combat systems control to the flight crew.
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems president Lou Von Thaer said that the company had already achieved a milestone with the delivery of the 1,500th advanced mission computer in 2012 in support of the Super Hornet programme.
"Our long-standing commitment to outfitting this world-class aircraft with our open architecture has provided the navy with the ability to cost-effectively address obsolescence, increase flexibility and strengthen performance capabilities," Thaer said.
Type-3 AMC is a ruggedised, high-performance, high-reliability mission and display-processing system, designed to process data flows at a greater speed from the advanced sensor technologies.
Capable of performing general purpose, input/output, video, voice and graphics processing, the system can also operate in the extreme environmental conditions while supporting high-performance fighter aircraft missions.
The US Navy’s all-weather premier fighter/attack aircraft, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has been designed to support air superiority, day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, close air support, suppression of enemy air defences, and forward air control and tanker missions.
A variant of the F/A-18F, the EA-18G Growler is powered by two F414-GE-400 afterburning turbofan engines and supports electronic attack (EA) and suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) operations for the US Navy.
Scheduled to be complete in December 2014, work under the contract will be carried out at the company’s facility in Bloomington, Minnesota as well as in Albuquerque, New Mexico, US.
The US Naval Air Systems Command will serve as the contracting activity.
Image: A US Navy’s EA-18G Growler undergoing mission. Photo: file image.
