AASC wins ADS-18 Development Contract
08/01/2003
AASC has won a contract to develop and fabricate 5 radomes as part of the Navy's E-2C Advanced Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control System.
AASC has been awarded a 41 month development program of the next generation radome for the Navy’s E-2C Advanced Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control System. The work is scheduled to be completed in December 2006. AASC will build 5 radomes. The first unit will be for electrical test by L-3 Randtron. The second unit will be a full up lab test unit for Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems. The third radome will be Flight Unit No. 1, the fourth unit will be the Qualification Unit and the fifth shipset, which will complete this contract effort, will be Flight Unit No. 2.
The main difference with the ADS-18 structure compared to the TRAC-A structures is that the mid-section and aft sections will be graphite epoxy structure as compared to the fiberglass epoxy structure currently in production at AASC.
A Northrop Grumman press release identified that the Advanced Hawkeye system represents a two-generation leap in radar technology. The system will give the Navy far greater threat detection.