F-35 Sensor System Could Assist With Missile Defense

Northrop Grumman has demonstrated the ability of its AN/AAQ-37 electro-optical distributed aperture system (DAS) to detect and track ballistic missiles, reports the defense firm.

The DAS is designed for the F-35 Lightning II.

During testing, the system successfully detected and tracked a two-stage rocket launch at a range of more than 800 miles (1,300 km) aboard the company's test-bed aircraft, said Northrop.

The DAS consists of multiple sensors whose images are fused...