AAI Receives Ground Control Station Award for US Army's LEMV Airship Program

Hunt Valley, Maryland — September 27, 2010 — AAI Corporation, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that it has received an $8.9 million award from prime contractor Northrop Grumman to provide the ground control station for the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program. As a principal member of the winning Northrop Grumman-led LEMV team, AAI will provide a variant of its innovative Universal Ground Control Station for the LEMV, a long-duration hybrid airship system. The AAI ground control station will be NATO standardization agreement (STANAG) 4586 compliant, meaning that it will incorporate specific features for interoperability with allied assets.

AAI's launch-and-recovery ground control station will utilize multiple work stations to provide Level 5 command and control of the aircraft. This is the highest possible level of interoperability according to NATO STANAG 4586, in which the ground control station offers users complete flight control from takeoff to landing. Additional work stations will be located at a fixed remote site. These will be responsible for aircraft command and control, along with processing, exploitation and dissemination of information.

"We have an established, decades-long reputation as a ground control technology designer and manufacturer," says AAI's Division Vice President, Ground Control Technologies Bill Irby. "Our solutions share three critical features: interoperability, scalability and commonality. These characteristics enable AAI ground control stations to be deployed successfully in countless configurations -- including the hybrid fixed and mobile work station combination we will provide for the LEMV program -- and for various unmanned aircraft, ground vehicles and surface vessels."

According to Northrop Grumman, the contracted LEMV system is scheduled for delivery within an 18-month period, after which it will be deployed for operational evaluation.

Source: AAI Receives $8.9 Million Ground Control Station Award for U.S. Army's Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle Program

Resources

LEMV - Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization
STANAG - NATO Standardization Agreement
US - United States

Aerospace Forces : LEMV

United States of America