Northrop Grumman [NOC] has trained, certified and deployed more than 120 civilian contractors to operate and support the Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) sense-and-warn system at forward operating bases (FOB) in Afghanistan.
The first few FOBs with complete sets of contractor-operated C-RAM equipment are now fully operational to protect warfighters serving in Afghanistan, according to Northrop Grumman. Several more FOBs nearing completion will soon have a full complement of operators, the company said in a press statement released yesterday.
Northrop Grumman trained and certified more than 20 operators within 30 days after receiving the task order, which was issued in July under the Defense Information Systems Agency Encore II omnibus contract.
“This is the initial increment of many FOBs scheduled to receive the enhancement of contractor-operated sense-and-warn capability,” said Mike Twyman, vice president of integrated command, control communications and intelligence systems for Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector. “C-RAM is continuing to save lives and improve in-theater operations for our military forces.”
Since initial fielding more than five years ago, the C-RAM system is credited with saving hundreds of lives through its ability to provide early warning of incoming indirect fire, according to Northrop Grumman.
C-RAM uses sensor, command and control (C2) and visualization tools to detect threatening objects and locate the sources of incoming fire. Once the threat is confirmed, its C2 system provides accurate warning to exposed soldiers. Simultaneously, the C2 system provides correlated track data to the intercept system to negate the incoming RAM threat. Additionally, the C2 system passes point of origin and point of impact information on to other systems and sensors to aid the proper response.