Naomi Cooper
The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $65 million contract to commence the full-rate production of Link-16 for the U.S. Marine Corps’ fleet of combat helicopters.
The company said Wednesday it will integrate the military tactical data link network into the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft to enable fleet crews to share data and communications with other military network users.
Link 16 is expected to play a key role in the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control framework for multi-domain battlefield by allowing aircraft and ground forces to exchange digital data in near real-time.
“As lead technology integrator for H-1 Avionics, we are expanding our long-standing partnership with the Marine Corps to modernize electronic systems across the fleet through an open systems architecture approach,” said Lindsay McEwen, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop Grumman.
The defense contractor secured a $24.3 million order from the Navy in December 2021 to deliver Link 16 production B kits, spares and flight training devices for the H-1 fleet.
