The Air Force recently awarded Northrop Grumman [NOC] $219 million for the Joint Threat Emitter (JTE) follow-on production program, according to a company statement.
The contract includes a $44 million initial award that includes foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia, according to a Defense Department statement. Under the terms of the program, Northrop Grumman will produce, test and deliver JTE first article production units. The company will be delivering multiple variants of the threat emitter unit (TEU): the standard TEU and the wideband version, as well as mobile command and control (C2) units and fixed C2 units.
DoD said the Sept. 9 contract was competitively awarded and two proposals were received. An industry source told sister publication Defense Daily L-3 Communications [LLL] teamed with Northrop Grumman for the program. Northrop Grumman spokeswoman Ellen Hamilton declined to confirm whether it teamed with L-3.
JTE is a mobile air defense electronic warfare threat simulator that provides high-fidelity replication of surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery threats for aircrew training. JTE is a robust and ruggedized system that is easily relocatable, reactive to aircrew and aircraft for fast jet, fixed-wing and rotary-wing defensive measures. JTE can also be rapidly reprogrammed with new threat parameters.
JTE offers realistic warfighter training and provides a modern, reactive battle space environment designed to train military personnel to identify and effectively counter enemy missile and artillery threats. JTE also offers realistic effective radiated power levels that has the capability to simultaneously simulate different types of threats in the surface-to-air missile family, including those categorized as single-digit and double-digit threats.
The Air Force also said Nov. 13 on Federal Business Opportunities it is performing market research into whether it can compete or offer small business set-aside contracts for JTE radar transmitters and electronic components. Some of the components include pulse magnetron transmitters, pulse cavity oscillator transmitters and a threat emitter unit control computer.
Northrop Grumman’s existing JTE is the current Air Force program of record with 18 systems fielded, the company said. The new systems will be fully backward- and forward-compatable with all fielded systems and will allow for seamless interoperability of all existing and new elements.
JTE is also used by the Navy, according to an Air Force statement, as both services have JTE radars located at Ritidian Point on Northwest Field, Guam.