SAN DIEGO, June 18, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Systems Sector (ISS) has received $20.5 million from the U.S. Air Force for advanced procurement of long-lead parts for the start of low-rate initial production of two Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles and one mission control element. Work under this contract will begin immediately and conclude in March 2003.
The Global Hawk program is currently in engineering and manufacturing development following the successful completion of the Milestone II phase of the program in February 2001. On June 7, Global Hawk returned from a successful six-week deployment to Australia, where it demonstrated maritime surveillance capabilities in a series of exercises with the Australian government.
Under development for the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aerial reconnaissance system designed to provide military field commanders with high-resolution, near real-time imagery of large geographic areas. Northrop Grumman ISS's Air Combat Systems business area is the prime contractor, with work performed at its Unmanned Systems facilities in San Diego and Palmdale, Calif.
Northrop Grumman's ISS, headquartered in Dallas, Tex., is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise. ISS has the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support complete systems, as well as airframe subsystems, for airborne surveillance and battle management aircraft, early warning aircraft, airborne electronic warfare aircraft and air combat aircraft.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $15 billion, global aerospace and defense company with its worldwide headquarters in Los Angeles. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in defense and commercial electronics, systems integration, information technology and non-nuclear shipbuilding and systems. With 80,000 employees and operations in 44 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northgrum.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi
LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Integrated Systems Sector is available at: http://www.iss.northgrum.com.