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Northrop Grumman gets $78M C-RAM follow-on

The U.S. Army has seen rocket and mortar casualty rates drop “to nearly zero” where its Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar Program system has been deployed, said the manufacturer, and now the service plans to buy more.

Northrop Grumman’s Tactical Systems Division received a $78 million follow-on contract Jan. 16 to continue systems engineering, integration and installation for the C-RAM program. Deployed last year in Iraq and elsewhere, the system uses sensors and radar to spot and track incoming mortar rounds and rockets. It warns U.S. and coalition troops about the incoming rounds and provides data to defensive weapons that can take shots at the enemy fire. The announcement was made at a press conference sponsored by the Los Angeles-based defense contractor.

“In the past, force protection was done with guns and people,” while C-RAM uses sensors, said Pat Camacho, director of Northrop Grumman’s force protection unit.

Army spokesman Timothy Rider said the C-RAM had “successfully responded to RAM attacks directed at personnel in a U.S. base in Iraq by intercepting/destroying incoming rounds and by providing a capability that contributes to rapid and successful counterattacks and response options such as tracking and apprehending the enemy forces.”

In a presentation, Camacho said the firm developed the command and control systems for C-RAM, and was also the systems installer, providing systems engineering support. The firm designed and built the C-RAM systems and installed them at forward operational bases, and provided integrated logistics support there.

The C-RAM can detect a weapon firing “tens of kilometers” away, and quickly figure out where the munition will land, Camacho said.

He said Air Force and Marine Corps officials are considering buying the system.

“It really says we’ve got a mission to accomplish out there,” Camacho said of the contract follow-on, which will triple the Army’s original $38 million investment.

The contract is managed by the Army’s program executive officer for Command, Control and Communications Tactical, with contracting handled by the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Northrop Grumman is basing the C-RAM work in Huntsville, Ala., and said it will be finished in September.