Common Infrared Countermeasures Helps Protect UH-60 Black Hawks – U.S. Army
This past February, an advanced self-protection system for helicopters, in development for over ten years, reached a truly transformative milestone. Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) system achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC). With IOC, the U.S. Army demonstrated the ability to field, employ and maintain CIRCM in significant quantities on its rotary wing platforms. This milestone advances the accelerated fielding of CIRCM systems on more than 1,500 Army aircraft. CIRCM has met the IOC requirements for UH-60M, HH-60M, CH-47F and AH-64Es.
The next several years will see steady, high rates of annual production for the system. Replacing the previous, widely distributed Advanced Threat IRCM (ATIRCM) system, Army plans call for CIRCM to be installed on a total of 1,500 platforms into the next decade. This number will likely rise with increased demand over the next few years.
The systems will likely see installations on UH-60M, HH-60M, CH-47F and AH-64E helicopters, as well as possible Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Future Aerial Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
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Common Infrared Countermeasures System. Image – Northrop Grumman
A next-generation system, CIRCM protects against shoulder-fired and vehicle-launched anti-aircraft missiles that home in on the heat signature of an aircraft. The system works in conjunction with a Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) to offer a critically vital form of self-protection for aircraft and the personnel who operate them.
In April 2021, the U.S. Army awarded prime contractor Northrop Grumman a five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at $959.1 million for full-rate production of the CIRCM system.
The February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting war has provided stark demonstrations of the helicopter’s unique vulnerability to ground fire. This and previous lessons have only spurred strong support for CIRCM’s long development path over the previous decade, and into it’s current, accelerated, production and installation phase.
The FY24 U.S. defense budget includes $1.5 billion in CIRCM procurement funding through FY28 which includes purchases of support equipment and other costs. While the Ten-Year Outlook below is based on the five-year budget, the later years of the forecast indicate not only ongoing production for current service requirements, but also for possible test, evaluation procurement for future platform such as the FVL.
For now, production is primarily for the U.S. Army. However, if the history of its associated and widely distributed CMWS is any indicator, later years may see production for U.S. aircraft sold through the foreign Military Sales program to trusted allies.
The multi-billion dollar CIRCM program is now a newly published report, and a permanent feature of Forecast International’s Electronic Warfare and Electro-Optical Forecasts, with long-range funding and production outlooks. It will be updated regularly as other important news emerges.