The United Kingdom has become the first international customer for Northrop Grumman’s Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) system, the company announced on 4 December 2024.
Ten of the 14 Boeing H-47 Chinook Extended Range (ER) heavylift helicopters that the UK Ministry of Defence announced it was ordering in March 2024 will be fitted with CIRCM systems, a Northrop Grumman spokesperson told ESD.
The spokesperson added that the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal for the UK CIRCM systems was signed in July 2024 and the systems are expected to be delivered from 2027, which coincides with when the UK is to start receiving its H-47(ER)s.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
The CIRCM system is Northrop Grumman’s fifth generation of infra-red countermeasures. It works by locking onto an incoming infra-red-guided missile and generating pulses using a quantum cascade laser that confuse it and steer it off course.
Northrop Grumman announced in May 2024 that it had delivered the 500th CIRCM shipset to the US Army.
