BAE SYSTEMS TO PROVIDE MORE AIMS ANTENNAS FOR U.S. AND ALLIED NAVIES

BAE SYSTEMS has received a $10.5 million contract for ten AIMS antenna group systems for the U.S. Navy and for the governments of Korea and Japan.

Designated the OE-120( )/UPX, the AIMS antenna group is a significant part of the AIMS -- an acronym for Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System, Identification, Friend or Foe, MKXII, System. The AIMS antenna group is comprised of an antenna, antenna position programmer and a below-deck control unit used to locate and identify aircraft as friend or foe.

BAE SYSTEMS will provide six AIMS systems for the U.S. Navy's DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers and CVN-68 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. In addition, the Republic of Korea will receive three AIMS antenna groups for their KDX-III class destroyers, and one system will be delivered to Japan for their DDG-173 Kongo class destroyer.

The AIMS antenna consists of 64 radiating elements arrayed in a circle around the ship's mast. Unlike conventional IFF systems, which employ mechanically rotated antennas, the AIMS antenna elements remain stationary while the beam is steered electronically to scan a full 360 degrees around the ship. The beam can also be positioned selectively in any direction within microseconds and has a continuous scan rate of up to 90 revolutions per minute.

Work will be performed at BAE SYSTEMS Information & Electronic Warfare Systems unit in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed in December 2005. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.