LONDON, May 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) recently signed a contract with the Ministry of National Defense of Romania to provide a wide range of services and projects supporting Romanian national defense efforts.
Under the first order placed under the contract, the company will provide administrative consultancy services pertaining to potential U.S. basing initiatives in Romania and other national and international defense requirements.
The framework defense contract was signed in London by Romania's Minister for National Defense Ioan Mircea Pascu and A. Thomas Fintel, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems vice president and general manager. His Excellency, Ambassador Dan Ghibernea, welcomed the representative delegations with a reception and ceremony at his official residence.
"Romania is strongly committed to participating with real efficacy and interoperability with the U.S., U.K. and all other NATO allies, including, obviously, complex training exercises and operations," said Fintel. "Northrop Grumman is equally committed to helping Romania build the infrastructure necessary for this high degree of interoperability. Romania and her allies will benefit even more from the obvious capabilities of her professional armed forces in dynamic and challenging scenarios."
"I underline the importance of cooperation with a well-known firm like Northrop Grumman on improving Romania's military infrastructure in meeting the host support nation criterion of NATO membership," Minister Pascu said.
The U.S. Department of Defense is strategically realigning its global posture to best respond to changing threats, requirements and challenges. The Defense Department's restructuring plans may include the repositioning of U.S. forces to new "forward operating sites" in Eastern Europe, closer to perceived threats.
Romania is geographically and politically aligned with U.S., NATO and European Union interests. Its formal accession to NATO was completed on April 2 and declared a national holiday.
"These alignments will be a key consideration for potential U.S. basing options in the region," added Fintel.
Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector signed a memorandum of understanding with the Romanian Ministry of Defense on March 3, allowing Northrop Grumman to establish a collaborative relationship for exploring joint opportunities related to Romania's national defense.
Under this follow-on contract to the March 3 memorandum, Northrop Grumman will essentially serve as the Ministry's prime partner to prioritize, implement and integrate large defense systems.
Considering the growing economic and historical importance of the region, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is also establishing offices in Bucharest and Bulgaria.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 123,000 employees, and operations in all 50 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.northropgrumman.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 Mission Systems sector is available at: www.ms.northropgrumman.com/index.html