Ramona Adams
Boeing has awarded Lockheed Martin a pair of contracts worth up to $100 million combined to update an infrared search-and-track sensor technology used on the U.S. Navy‘s fleet of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft.
Lockheed said Thursday it will develop software, update hardware and deliver prototypes in an effort to optimize the detection, tracking and ranging capacity of the IRST21 sensor in radar-denied environments.
Paul Lemmo, a vice president at Lockheed’s missiles and fire control business, said the company will support Block II upgrades on the Navy’s Super Hornets through the two contracts.
Lockheed-built IRST21 sensors are mounted in F/A-18E/F centerline fuel tanks and designed to help pilots detect and track airborne threats.
