Northrop Grumman to explore potential new avionics for Venom and Viper
An AH-1Z Viper helicopter pictured in November 2021. (Photo: USMC/Lance Cpl Elias Pimentel III)
New IDIQ deal for Northrop Grumman opens up potential avenues to improve avionics on AH-1Z and UH-1Y attack helicopters.
Northrop Grumman is to look into developing new avionics capabilities for UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters under a new $337.94 million IDIQ contract from the US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division.
Work is expected to be completed by June 2027, the DoD announced on 1 July. The sole-source contract was not competitively procured.
The DoD added: ‘This contract provides researching alternatives, investigating and documenting new capabilities and anomalies related to H-1 [AH-1Z and UH-1Y] avionics and weapons; and the development, integration, verification, validation, and testing of H-1 Integrated Avionics Systems.’
Northrop Grumman will also identify maintenance capabilities and upgrade test equipment. The company is a long-term supplier of hardware and integrated avionics for Venom and Viper aircraft, which are operated by the USMC and have also been ordered by overseas partners under the FMS programme.
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