Date: 19 November, 2007
Northrop Grumman Corporation has selected L-3 Communications Communication Systems West (CS-West) as a key member of the Communications Integrated Product Team (IPT) for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) offer to the U.S. Navy.
The combined BAMS offering is based upon a system employing a Modular Open Systems Architecture, ensuring interoperable connectivity with Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force assets and shipboard elements of the US Fleet and other U.S. Department of Defense components. The companies have created a seamless communications IPT for the BAMS programme and the team is already delivering successful results on Northrop Grumman's Head Start risk reduction activities. "This collaboration between the companies is well proven through past successes, which include Global Hawk, Guardrail and other critical Defense Department programmes," said Carl Johnson, vice president of Broad Area Maritime Surveillance.
"Together, the companies have consistently delivered integrated communications suites that set the standard in wideband communications, relay capability and airborne satellite communications." BAMS will serve as an adjunct to the P-8A Poseidon (the Navy's Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft). The platforms will provide two of the first airborne nodes of the Navy's ForceNet architecture, an advanced design for network centric operations.
The Northrop Grumman / L-3 design will enable both sensor and communications upgrades through early planning for spiraled development. Advanced wideband networking technology will facilitate seamless transmission of critical data around the battlespace. Both the ground and airborne components of the proposed Northrop Grumman RQ-4N BAMS system are based on mature technologies and will deliver more than 90% of the US Navy's objective requirements at programme initiation, said Northrop Grumman. L-3 is currently supporting the Northrop Grumman Head Start risk reduction effort for BAMS.
The system hardware targeted for BAMS is being installed on Northrop Grumman owned Gulfstream II jet, which has been modified to serve as a flying test-bed for system-level testing of communications and payloads. "We are demonstrating our ability to operate within the Navy's ForceNet architecture including the Automated Digital Network System," said Bob Stadel, CS-West Director of Navy Business Development. "Our system will provide IP enabled, secure, wideband connectivity with significantly greater bandwidth than the threshold requirement for BAMS.
We are demonstrating dynamic network, and bandwidth control in an Internet Protocol-based environment that is delivering all the benefits of the Navy's ForceNet construct. This hardware has previously completed successful interoperability tests with Defense Department communications systems including P-8A, Littoral Combat Ship, P-3 AIP, ROVER III, MR-TCDL, and Surface Terminal Equipment currently employed by the Tactical Support Center." "Additionally," Stadel continued, "we quickly recognized that the multi-band satellite communications requirement for BAMS is perhaps its most challenging element. We have put strong emphasis on this effort to ensure that design, integration, and lab testing are completed early."