HUNTSVILLE, Ala., -- The U.S. Army has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation as the prime contractor for the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) Integration and Fielding contract. C-RAM will help protect U.S. and coalition troops against mortars and rockets fired by insurgents.

Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector is developing a systems architecture and integrating the C-RAM target acquisition, fire control, warning and engagement subsystems. Under a $38 million contract, Northrop Grumman will first deploy a mortar-attack warning capability and install that capability at eight forward operating bases in Iraq.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems will also train soldiers to use the system and integrate an intercept subsystem as it is fielded.

The contract is managed by the Director, Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar in the Army's Program Executive Office, Command Control and Communications Tactical.

C-RAM uses target acquisition sensors, including Firefinder and Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar, to detect and track fired rounds. The AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar system is produced by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector.

Once a threat is detected, audio and visual alarms sound to warn exposed soldiers. A fire-control subsystem predicts the mortar's flight path, prioritizes targets, activates the warning system, and provides cueing data to defeat the mortar round while still in the air.

"Northrop Grumman has applied an innovative combination of fielded technology and advanced systems concepts to integrate and field this system that is urgently needed to protect our soldiers in the field," said Otto Guenther, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's tactical systems division. "The Army's confidence in Northrop Grumman's ability to provide this critical capability was based in large part on our strong systems-integration and command-and-control expertise and our proven performance fielding the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) system."

The fire-control subsystem Northrop Grumman Mission Systems provides for C-RAM uses software modified from FAAD C2, which ties together the sensors and weapons of the Army's short-range air-defense battalions. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for FAAD C2, which is operational throughout the world and has been especially critical to homeland security efforts in the Washington, D.C. area.