25 Mar 02. EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company has achieved another milestone in its cooperation with the American defence manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
Following the Teaming Agreement established between the companies last year, Northrop Grumman Overseas Services Corporation and EADS Deutschland GmbH have signed a contract for an Advanced, Cost-Effective Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (ATCMS 2000), as EADS announced on Monday. Through the worldwide Air Traffic Control (ATC) marketing channels of Northrop Grumman, ATCMS 2000 will provide prospective international ATC customers with the leading technology of both companies.
EADS, as one of the major IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) companies, will bring their IFF expertise and system knowledge together with the MSSR 2000 I Interrogator to provide superior performance for the commercial ATC market. Under the contract, EADS will supply their MSSR 2000 I Interrogator for a total of 30 ATCMS 2000 systems over the next 6 years, with an option for additional units.
The MSSR 2000 I Interrogator sends out coded request signals to be automatically answered only by selected civilian and military aircraft (MODE S). Through the use of MODE S, aircraft identification and communication of supplementary information can still reliably be achieved in areas that traditionally have airspace congestion problems.
“The contract affirms our building block strategy using concrete business opportunities in our collaboration efforts with Northrop Grumman,” explains Stefan Zoller, President and CEO of EADS Systems & Defence Electronics. Johann Heitzmann, Head of EADS Airborne Systems, underscores: “The increase in air traffic, the demand for economic operation and stringent safety regulations create growing demand in the Air Traffic Control market, which we can meet in a very cost-effective way by combining the existing concepts and comprehensive proficiency of our companies in this field.”
In April 2000, EADS and Northrop Grumman signed a first overall MoU to evaluate potential alliances in a number of business areas. Since then, several projects in the field of surveillance and reconnaissance have been put into concrete form.