LaBarge Inc. [LB] has been awarded a $2.3 million contract from Northrop Grumman [NOC] to continue to produce electronic equipment for the AN/AAQ-24(V) Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system. LaBarge has worked on the program for more than a decade.
The only such aircraft protection system currently in production, Northrop Grumman’s DIRCM system is now installed or scheduled for installation on several hundred military aircraft to protect approximately 48 different types of large fixed-wing transports and rotary-wing platforms from infrared missile attacks.
The system functions by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat, and activating a high-intensity laser-based countermeasure system to track and defeat the missile.
Production at LaBarge’s Tulsa, Okla., facility is expected to begin in October and continue through January 2010. LaBarge is a Northrop Grumman Preferred Supplier.