Northrop
Grumman Corporation has been competitively selected to supply the AQS-24A
airborne mine-hunting system to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.Under
the initial contract, Northrop Grumman's Undersea Systems business unit
will deliver the airborne mine-hunting system to Kawasaki Heavy Industries
for integration into Japan's new Airborne Mine Countermeasures MCH-101
helicopter.
"The combination of our proven high performance, low cost and ease
of integration in the MCH-101 airframe makes the AQS-24A the ideal choice
for Japan's helicopter-based mine-hunting needs," said Tom Jones,
vice president of Northrop Grumman's Undersea Systems business unit.
"As the only operational airborne mine-hunting search system in
the U.S. Navy, the AQS-24A has demonstrated very high reliability in
the field with the Navy's Helicopter Mine Countermeasures squadrons."
The AQS-24A and its predecessors, the AQS-24 and the AQS-14,
have been the only operational airborne mine hunting search systems
used by the U.S. Navy for the past 27 years. The AQS-24A is a high speed
mine-hunting system that is primarily towed from the MH-53E helicopter,
but has been easily adapted to the smaller Japanese MCH-101 aircraft.
With a track record of proven reliability and performance across the
globe, the system's high-resolution side-scan sonar detects, localizes
and classifies both bottom and moored mines in real time at high area
coverage rates. |
