Carol Collins
The U.S. Navy has received a Northrop Grumman-built electronic warfare system the military service will test at the Surface Combat Systems Center located on Virginia’s Wallops Island.
Northrop said Friday its first AN/SLQ-32(V)7 Block 3 delivery under the branch’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program follows the completion of system integration and qualification testing efforts.
The company was awarded a $91.7 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract in October 2015 to build two prototype models for evaluation in the laboratory and field settings.
Mike Meaney, vice president of land and maritime sensors at Northrop, said the shipment marks the end of the program’s EMD phase and “the next step in a multi-year effort to take SEWIP from the laboratory to the hands of the warfighter.”
In January 2019, the Department of Defense issued Milestone C decision on the SEWIP Block 3 program to allow the start of low-rate initial production work.
The system’s third block upgrade incorporates an electronic attack technology intended to defend surface combatants against anti-ship missile threats.
Northrop secured a $1.16 billion follow-on Navy contract in October 2020 to produce Block 3 EW systems.
