BAE Systems awarded $13.5m US Navy contract for Smart D2
Above:
Rotary wing MH-60S Seahawk in flight with countermeasures being dispensed from platform.
Courtesy BAE Systems
The contract is an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) through the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium (NASC). This is the first purchase of Smart D2 technology by the US Department of Defense (DoD).
“Aircraft survivability technology is in a race against emerging threats,” said Don Davidson, director of the Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions product line at BAE Systems. “Smart D2 elevates legacy systems to the technology capabilities of next-generation smart countermeasures.”
The Smart D2 technology can be integrated into an aircraft’s existing ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System – the trusted system of choice for aircraft survivability among US armed forces and international allies. More than 4,000 ALE-47 systems have been installed in over 30 countries.
Above:
A fixed-wing F/A-18 Hornet in flight above aircraft carrier in the distance.
Courtesy BAE Systems
Instead of replacing an aircraft’s entire ALE-47 system, Smart D2 technology allows for the replacement of key elements – the programmer, sequencer, dispenser and expendables. The programmer contains a regularly-updated database of known threats and identifies the appropriate payload, quantity and dispensing intervals of each countermeasure. It also provides two-way communication of mission-critical information to enable pilots to make more informed decisions on the spot.
Smart D2 technology supports the US Navy conversion to countermeasure expendables with the same square form factor as the US Air Force and the US Army. The Smart D2 sequencer and square style dispenser are a form and fit replacement to the current ALE-47 sequencer and dispenser for the US Navy’s effort under the NASC OTA. Smart D2 will be deployed on USN rotary and fixed-wing aircraft and is also designed to operate on future platforms.
Work on Smart D2 under the ALE-47 Common Carriage programme is underway at BAE Systems’ state-of-the-art facility in Austin, Texas.
