The U.S. Army awarded Honeywell Aerospace $41 million to continue supplying its combat-proven radar altimeters for use across the Army’s full fleet of helicopter platforms.
Honeywell’s lightweight, compact APN-209 radar altimeter is a critical piece of safety and awareness equipment designed to work well in a helicopter’s operating environment, specifically in the hover phase and low-level flight.
“Honeywell has delivered more than 150,000 radar altimeters to defense and commercial customers around the world,” said Carey Smith, president, Defense and Space, Honeywell Aerospace. “Since 1975, Honeywell’s radar altimeters have helped keep Army helicopters safe in multiple theaters of combat, and dramatically increased performance across missions and in all types of weather and conditions.”
The APN-209 provides the pilot and flight control computer with an indication of height above the nearest terrain point below the aircraft, such as a tower or building. This information ensures that the pilot and crew have the most accurate information about the landscape around their helicopter.
Honeywell’s radar altimeter also includes state-of-the-art features such as low-probability-of-detection, low-probability-of-intercept and low-probability-of-exploitation. Together, these features help Army helicopters evade attempts to obtain the location of the platform through the altimeter, increasing the likelihood of remaining undetected during surveillance or tactical missions.