Exelis, Leidos Continue Work to Counter Future Radar Threats

Exelis (NYSE: XLS) and Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) have been selected to continue to evolve advanced technology development for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Adaptive Radar Countermeasures (ARC) program.

The five-year subcontract from Leidos could be worth up to $15.6 million if all options are exercised. During this second phase of the program, Exelis will demonstrate the Leidos software-based algorithms with Exelis electronic warfare (EW) hardware in the loop test environment, showcasing an enhanced capability to electronically defend against emerging radar threats. The ARC program will enable U.S. airborne EW systems to detect and adaptively counter radar systems whose waveforms and behaviors are new, unknown or ambiguous.

“The ARC program is cutting edge in the area of intelligent, adaptive countermeasures to counter future electronic threats,” said Mitch Friedman, vice president and general manager of the Exelis integrated electronic warfare systems business. “The work we’re doing in partnership with Leidos and DARPA is laying important groundwork to ensure our warfighters can anticipate and outpace the agile radio frequency threats of the future.”

The ARC program consists of two major elements: the Leidos-led development of new software processing techniques and their implementation, managed by Exelis, with a prototype module within a full rate production system. This process is expected to lead to a new, adaptive EW protection system for airborne platforms within the next five years.