WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $65 million contract by the U.S. Navy to execute the full-rate production of Link-16 for the U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft, which will involve the integration of data link hardware across the fleet, the company said March 9.
“As lead technology integrator for H-1 Avionics, we are expanding our long-standing partnership with the Marine Corps to modernize electronic systems across the fleet through an open systems architecture approach,” said Lindsay McEwen, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop Grumman. “Link-16 full-rate production is the starting point.”
Link-16 is a secure data link that allows H-1 crews to share data and communications with other aircraft and users on military networks. This capability is a critical mission enabler as the Department of Defense moves to joint all-domain command and control.
The company said the processes, capabilities and open architecture developed for the H-1 fleet are directly applicable to other platforms and could be used in future aircraft development programs such as Naval Air Command’s Vertical Take Off and Landing Family of Systems, MUX and others.
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