Exelis is to continue working with Leidos to evolve adaptive radar counter-measures, or ARC, for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The sub-contact from Leidos for Phase 2 of the DARPA project could be worth as much as $15.6 million to Exelis if all options are exercised, the company said.

"The ARC program is cutting edge in the area of intelligent, adaptive counter-measures to counter future electronic threats," said Mitch Friedman, vice president and general manager of the Exelis integrated electronic warfare systems business. "The work we're doing in partnership with Leidos and DARPA is laying important groundwork to ensure our warfighters can anticipate and outpace the agile radio frequency threats of the future."

Exelis said it will demonstrate Leidos software-based algorithms with its electronic warfare hardware in the loop test environment to demonstrate an enhanced capability to electronically defend against emerging radar threats.

"The ARC program will enable U.S. airborne EW systems to detect and adaptively counter radar systems whose waveforms and behaviors are new, unknown or ambiguous," Exelis said.

"The ARC program consists of two major elements: the Leidos-led development of new software processing techniques and their implementation, managed by Exelis, with a prototype module within a full rate production system."

The two companies expect to develop the system within the next five years.