Boeing Wins AWACS Antenna Contract

Boeing won a three-year, $20.6 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to build antenna radio frequency processors and associated electronics for the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)-Electronic Systems Measures (ESM) program. Boeing said it will complete the work at its Heath, Ohio, facility. The AWACS-ESM program relocated to Heath in 2006 from Corinth, Texas, after the construction of an 800-square-foot anechoic chamber and an indoor testing facility. Boeing will deliver 53 radar antennas between September 2008 and January 2010. This year, Boeing was awarded a two-year, $3.6 million contract for ESM repairs.  Boeing added ESM to the AWACS mission system in the mid-1990s for the E-3 aircraft. It is a passive system that enables the AWACS fleet to detect, identify and track electronic transmissions from ground, airborne and maritime sources.