CPI Aerostructures, Edgewood, N.Y., was awarded an $800,000 contract by Northrop Grumman to produce three pod structural housings for the U.S. Navy’s Airborne Laser Mine-Detection System (ALMDS). On March 12, Northrop Grumman received approval from the Navy for low-rate initial production. Mounted in a MH-60S helicopter, an ALMDS unit is flown ahead of a convoy to determine if mines lie in a ship’s path. CPI Aerostructures’s structural housings will be pressurized and thermally conditioned structural assemblies that contain the ALMDS electronics. Two units containing pod housings produced by CPI Aerostructures already have been delivered by Northrop Grumman, and the Navy is performing operational tests on them, the company said.