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ICSG Awarded E-2D Production Contract

Wed, Jun 5 2013

In a recent announcement by Betsy Curtin Mathtech’s President, “the company's Integrated Communication Systems Group (ICSG), an independent hardware development entity operating within the Mathtech corporate structure, located in Falls Church, was recently awarded a production contract to provide the AN/AYQ-27 Digital Communications Management System on the Navy’s E-2D AEW Aircraft”.

This award was based on an earlier work performed by Mathtech involving supportability and readiness problems that were plaguing the intercom system installed aboard the older E-2C AEW aircraft, the E-2D's predecessor. The study took the form of a life cycle cost analysis of the older analog intercom system, the AN/AIC-14, which is still in service aboard the E-2C.

As a result, the Navy through a series of innovative projects performed under an SBIR program, contracted with Mathtech to design an entirely new digital ICS using fibre optics and an open system architecture that could meet the interoperability requirements of new aircraft and other platforms.

New Intercom System Developed

According to Curtin “the program’s objective was the creation of a digital, network centric system that could be scaled in a modular, open design architecture to support E-2D audio, data and mission  communications requirements, within the constraints of reduced SWaP (size, weight, power) and low cost of ownership”.

“The outcome was a new multi-station intercom in the form of a small, lightweight system that would not only complement the upgraded mission capabilities of the E-2D, but that could be installed either forward fit or retrofit in other combat platforms” said Curtin.

Fully flight and environmentally qualified, the new system, designated as the AN/AYQ-27, provides increased performance and versatility at a lower ownership cost than any comparable ICS in the industry. It offers high reliability and improved functionality for the operator, including high fidelity speech intelligibility and User Defined Spatial Audio™.

Based on the success of the program, Mathtech was selected as the E-2D intercom supplier of record in 2004, and the formal responsibility for system development and manufacturing was invested in the creation of ICSG.

Today this relationship continues as the program enters full-scale production with ICSG currently shipping the AN/AYQ-27, a rate that is expected to grow within the next two years.

Over the life of the program, the company has the capability provide all depot maintenance, repair and field support, while developing upgrades to meet new requirements and address anticipated obsolescence issues with older intercom systems currently in use.

More Applications Planned

As Mathtech’s hardware division, ICSG continues to benefit from the core analytical background that the company has developed and nurtured over the past half century. This support was vital to the creation of new intercom systems.

Going forward, the division has plans to expand and adapt the architectural footprint of the AN/AYQ-27 for use in land and sea platforms where connections to multiple radio platform or other information sources is needed. Applications will include other sectors of the military, homeland security and law enforcement.

About

​Founded in 1959 under the name Mathematica, Mathtech (www.mathtechinc.com​) is a woman-owned, small business. The company isheadquartered in Falls Church, VA, and is staffed by over 50 professionals.Mathtech evolved as a division of Mathematica and became a subsidiary of thecompany in 1976. Acquired by Lockheed Martin (then Martin Marietta) in 1983,the company was then taken private in 1986 and has remained an independentcorporate entity ever since.