L3Harris Technologies Inc., Clifton, New Jersey, was awarded a $39,735,061 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursement no-fee, and not separately priced for Contract Data Requirements List requirements contract for the AN/ALQ-172 Countermeasures System (CMS). This contract provides repair services to the AN/ALQ-172 CMS, and the location of performance is Clifton, New Jersey. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 12, 2026, and this award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group-Engineering funds will be used. The contracting activity is Targeting and Electronic Warfare, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia (FA8522-21-D-0002).
Over the past decade, the ALQ-172 self-protection integrated RF subsystem has successfully defended B-52 bombers and Special Operation C-130 Combat Talons and Gunships against RF threats in combat missions. Design engineers originally developed the AN/ALQ-172(V) ECM system in the early 1980s as an upgrade to the B-52G/H ECM suite. The system provided various ECM techniques against airborne and ground-based fire control systems and associated missiles. The Enhanced ALQ-172 is an upgrade to the existing ALQ-172(V)1 on the AC-130U and MC-130H aircraft. This upgrade consists of upgrading LRUs 1, 3, 4, & 10 and replacing LRU 2 with LRUs of the ALQ-172(V)3 configuration.
The combat-proven system can simultaneously counter multiple pulse, continuous wave, pulse Doppler and monopulse threats. The ALQ-172 is integrated with the aircraft controls and displays and defensive subsystem to provide the aircrew with protection against the most sophisticated radar-directed threats. This Digital Frequency Discriminator [DFD] based system determines pulsewidth, AOA (angle of arrival) and PRI of a detected microwave signal to aid in deinterleaving and signal processing, resulting in a complete low power receiver. Delay line ratios provide the best possible phase margins to minimize ambiguity errors, and frequency and amplitude words are temperature corrected for improved accuracy.
