Posted on 03/28/2012 9:45:04 PM PDT by U-238
Northrop Grumman has been selected by the Office of Naval Research to develop a new cost-effective atom-based magnetic sensor, or magnetometer, for antisubmarine warfare operations.
The highly sensitive magnetometer will be part of a magnetic anomaly detection system mounted on helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles or submarines. Whether in the air above the ocean or underwater as part of a towed array, the magnetometer will sense disturbances in the earth's magnetic field due to metallic objects in the vicinity, indicating a nearby submarine.
Under a three-year $1.75 million contract, Northrop Grumman is being tasked to develop a magnetometer that is smaller, lighter and more accurate than current magnetic sensor technologies. Additionally, the magnetometer's small size will make it more affordable and efficient, consuming less power than its predecessors.
"Our new magnetic sensor will raise the bar for size, weight and power standards of atom-based magnetometers," said Charles Volk, vice president and chief technology officer of Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division. "Additionally, the sensor's enhanced accuracy will have major implications for national security and assist in the detection and classification of submarines."
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Too late, Mr. Volk. Obama already gave your proposal to the Russians and they are building it right now.
1.75 mil over 3 years for R&D?
What a lousy contract!
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$1.75 million over three years?
You can barely equip the lab and furnish the offices with that kind of money.
probably an earned value payment on the latest in a long line of such contracts.
make a milestone, get paid. it can go on for years.
Amen!
Interesting.
I have no idea how government defense contracting works.
You’re a Sopranos fan, I see.
A couple guys like Richie in the State Department might improve our foreign policy.
> $1.75 million over three years?
> You can barely equip the lab and furnish the offices with that kind of money.
No kidding. The gummint came to us 3 month ago and offered $300K to design develop and test a phased array sonar system for a submarine.
Come on. For $300K I can barely purchase a decent water tank to test it in, much less build a prototype.
I’m not sure who’s in charge of their buying now and they certainly have no concept of what it takes to design and build low volume precision equipment.
LOL
At the low point of the Carter regime, the aero contractor I was working for got so many of those 1/2a$$ed things, the Old Man asked for export permits “so that I may provide serious engineering solutions to serious customers”.
All you’ve got to do is rewrite the proposal around “Green”, claim that you only employ screaming gays, make big noisey campaign contributions to the right places and they’ll revise that figure up by several orders of magnitude. (Best part is that you can keep the money for yourself and don’t even need to make anything after that but MORE campaign contributions.)
(No, I won’t add /sarc. I’m deadly serious.)
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