Northrop Grumman wins F-18 display modernisation programme contract

Northrop Grumman Corporation's Navigation Systems Division has been awarded a $31 million (US) contract by The Boeing Company to develop advanced flat panel colour displays for the Canadian Forces and Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 aircraft. Northrop Grumman is teamed with Kaiser Electronics in San Jose for this contract.

"The new displays, intended to replace monochrome CRT displays developed in the 1970s, will provide enhanced situational awareness by supporting improvements in aircraft sensors, mission computers and weapon systems also being introduced to the aircraft," said Richard Ackerman, vice president of Contracts, Marketing and Projects at the Canadian facility in Toronto. "The new display suite also includes an embedded digital map system which will eliminate the need for film maps in the aircraft."

The aircraft display development effort is expected to last approximately 30 months and will be followed by production of the new displays. The upgrade program, which could be worth more than $100 million (US) over its life, will involve modifying 71 Australian and 80 Canadian F/A-18 aircraft. The new displays are also being offered to other F/A-18 users.

The Northrop Grumman/Kaiser team previously completed contracts with the Canadian Department of National Defense for the system definition and concept demonstration/risk reduction phases of the programme.

REF XQQAS XQQTY XQQAR