For more than two million in-theater combat hours, U.S. Army aviators have relied on BAE Systems' Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) to locate and protect against infrared threats. As a result of the system's success, the U.S. Army has awarded the company a $39 million contract for more than 300 third-generation (Gen3) units. This order coincides with the fielding of the Gen3 system that includes hostile fire indication to detect and evade small arms fire and new data recording capabilities for detailed post-mission analysis.

As a highly automated and tightly integrated infrared countermeasures suite, CMWS locates threats and dispenses countermeasures without requiring pilot intervention. The system features a modular, customizable design that allows for seamless integration with other aircraft and survivability systems. To that end, CMWS has demonstrated its ability to serve as a centralized processing system for Integrated Aircraft Survivability Equipment. The $39 million order is the first under a proposed $496 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract and increases the total U.S. Army Gen3 procurement to more than 1,300 units.

The current contract includes unit spares and engineering and technical services. The Gen3 systems will be fielded to more than 1,000 U.S. Army platforms over the next two years, and has already begun with in-theater installations on the Apache, Kiowa, and Blackhawk aircraft in Afghanistan.