Northrop Grumman Corporation has submitted a bid to the US Navy for the development of new jamming technology to support electronic warfare initiatives.
The proposal is part of the next-generation jammer (NGJ) technology maturation phase to replace the navy’s current ALQ-99 jamming system.
The Northrop-proposed NGJ is a critical replacement for the pre-digital ALQ-99 jamming system and functions as the shooting end for the new Northrop-built airborne electronic attack weapon system on board the EA-18G Growler.
Northrop Grumman information operations and electronic attack vice-president Stephen Hogan said the first shot fired in a conflict was no longer a bullet, it was an electron.
“We saw how the Russians used electronic attack in Georgia, and we see every day how terrorists operate, using store-bought electronics to harm our soldiers and innocent bystanders,” he said.
The navy will select up to four competing teams in the first quarter of 2010 and is expected to award an engineering and manufacturing development contract to a single supplier in the final quarter of 2012.
