The U.S. Navy awarded a contract to CAES for production of AN/ALQ-99 Low Band Consolidation (LBC) transmitters. If all options are exercised, total funding through 2025 in support of the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is expected to exceed $55 million.
CAES is an established supplier of RF/microwave and digital circuits and systems for aerospace and defense customers, and the LBC transmitters represent a significant performance enhancement to the AN/ALQ-99 systems.
As Mike Kahn, president and CEO of CAES proclaimed, "We are proud of our longstanding partnership with the U.S. Navy on next-generation electronic warfare technology.” Regarding the contract, Kahn added, “The LBC brings critical upgrades to the AN/ALQ-99 Low Band Transmitter (LBT) to combat evolving and emerging threats.”
The LBC incorporates modifications designed to bring enhanced functionality and performance to the AN/ALQ-99 LBT. CAES has a proven history of developing, producing, and delivering LBC transmitters, providing the subsystems to the U. S. Navy and RAAF EA-18G Growler Airborne Electronic Attack fleets. The company has manufactured more than 850 LBC transmitters during the last several decades, providing design, manufacturing, and test capabilities at high-power levels across multiple-octave bandwidths.
The transmitters are designed and built to withstand the severe conditions of maritime environments typically embraced by tactical aircraft flying from aircraft carriers. They also provide high reliability with low maintenance costs.