Army Orders Full-Rate Production of Northrop’s Integrated Missile Warning System

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a potential $959.1 million Army contract for full-rate production of the Common Infrared Countermeasure system. 

The Army awarded the five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract following the validation of the technology’s design maturity and production feasibility, Northrop said Monday.

CIRCM was built to protect aircraft from shoulder-fired and vehicle-launched heat-seeking missiles. According to Northrop’s product page, CIRCM was specifically designed to protect rotary-wing and medium fixed-wing aircraft from infrared homing missiles.

The system uses a compact pointer, a lightweight commercial off-the-shelf processor and advanced quantum cascade laser technology, Northrop added.

“CIRCM’s cutting-edge capability has been proven against the most advanced threats and the modular open systems approach brings flexibility for the future,” said Bob Gough, vice president of navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop. 

Northrop said the system’s design revolves around the Lean-Agile software development process, an accelerated method that prioritizes quality while minimizing project waste. 

CIRCM runs on an open architecture that works with current hardware, simplifies upgrades and lowers maintenance costs, the company added.

In March, the Army declared the CIRCM system operationally suitable and ready for full-rate production following a six-month initial operational test and evaluation activity. 

During the test, CIRCM was flown through various scenarios and environments to validate its ability to detect, engage and defeat threats, Northrop said.

Aircraft previously relied on the Common Missile Warning System and Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures system to fend off man-portable air defense systems. Northrop’s CIRCM is expected to replace ATIRCM once it is fielded, according to the Army’s Acquisition Support Center.