USAF Taps Northrop to Create Open-Architecture Aircraft Comms Gateway

Northrop Grumman has secured a contract to develop a prototype for an open system that will facilitate communications and translation between military aircraft platforms.

The company will address the technical and management requirements needed to develop the open-architecture gatewayONE system that will integrate with a variety of aircraft communications platforms, Northrop said Friday.

The Air Force plans to integrate gatewayONE into the Advanced Battle Management family of Systems, or ABMS, a future tool that will support situational awareness across multiple domains.

USAF and Northrop will conduct ground and flight tests over a four-month demonstration period. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s C3I and Networks Directorate issued the contract.

“We are working closely with the Air Force to design and deliver to the field, advanced communications systems quickly and affordably,” said Roshan Roeder, vice president of Northrop’s communications, airborne sensors and networks division.

Northrop will apply its software-defined Freedom radio technology to allow for communications between both 5th and 4th generation aircraft.