Leonardo DRS awarded NAVAIR contract to produce DAIRCM aircraft survivability system

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 10, 2026 — Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded Leonardo DRS a three-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for low-rate initial production of the AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure, or DAIRCM, aircraft survivability system.

The DRS DAIRCM system is a combat-proven lightweight aircraft survivability suite designed for small- and medium-sized aircraft with demanding size, weight and integration requirements. The integrated modular system combines advanced missile warning, directed infrared countermeasures, laser warning and hostile-fire indication to help protect aircraft and crews from surface-to-air threats in contested environments.

Under the contract, DRS will provide hardware production, aircraft integration, systems engineering, program management and associated logistics support. DAIRCM hardware will be manufactured at DRS facilities in Dallas, Texas, and San Diego, California. Aircraft-integration and logistics activities will be conducted from the company’s Fort Walton Beach, Florida site.

To date DAIRCM has been deployed on aircraft operating under a Joint Urgent Operational Need Statement. The low-rate initial production award follows the program’s Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase, during which DRS incorporated capability and producibility enhancements into the system configuration.

“This award moves the DRS DAIRCM System into low-rate initial production and expands our ability to provide critical integrated aircraft survivability capabilities to our military customers,” said John Baylouny, president and chief executive officer of Leonardo DRS. “We are proud to help address evolving aircraft survivability requirements and to enhance crew protection with a cost-effective advanced integrated capability.”

The DAIRCM program expands DRS’s aircraft survivability portfolio with an integrated capability designed for increasingly complex threat environments. It addresses the increasing evolution and proliferation of threats to airborne platforms.

photo courtesy Leonardo