BAE Systems has been awarded a $13.5m contract to incorporate its Smart D2 technology into the US Navy’s ALE-47 Common Carriage programme.
The programme is aimed at boosting expendable payload capacity as the US Navy transforms from round to square countermeasures.
The contract is an other transaction agreement (OTA) via the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium (NASC).
For the Department of Defense (DoD), this is the first procurement of Smart D2 technology.
Under the ALE-47 Common Carriage programme, the work on Smart D2 is underway at the company’s facility in Austin, Texas.
BAE Systems director of the Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions product line Don Davidson said: “Aircraft survivability technology is in a race against emerging threats.
“Smart D2 elevates legacy systems to the technology capabilities of next-generation smart countermeasures.”
The technology can be included into an aircraft’s ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System, which is trusted for survivability of aircraft among armed forces of the US and international allies.
Over 4,000 ALE-47 systems have been deployed in more than 30 countries.
Rather than replacing an aircraft’s complete ALE-47 system, Smart D2 technology enables the replacement of only important aspects – the programmer, sequencer, dispenser, and expendables.
Featuring a database of threats that are known and regularly updated, the programmer identifies the right payload, quantity, and dispensing intervals of every countermeasure.
Furthermore, it enables two-way communication of information critical for a mission to allow pilots to take better informed decisions on the spot.
The technology aids the US Navy conversion to countermeasure expendables with the square form aspect just as the US Air Force and Army.
Under the NASC OTA, the sequencer and square style dispenser are claimed to serve as a ‘form and fit’ replacement to the existing ALE-47 sequencer and dispenser for the US Navy.
Designed to operate on future platforms, this technology will be deployed on US Navy rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.
Earlier this week, BAE Systems secured a contract to undertake the repair, maintenance and modernisation of the US Navy’s Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3).
