ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 5, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a seven-year contract to provide hardware integration support for a passive, anti-submarine warfare sonar system for the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarine program.
Under a $42.1 million subcontract with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector will handle hardware integration for a component of the Lightweight Wide Aperture Array (LWWAA) system for ships seven through 10; Northrop Grumman is already under a similar contract for integration support of LWWAA systems for the first six Virginia-class submarines. The company is responsible for integrating fiber-optic acoustic sensors, also produced by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, with the LWWAA system's array panels, as well as for installing the cabling associated with each panel.
Each ship set consists of six array panels, three panels per side-integrated into the submarine hull structure.
"The LWWAA sonar system relies on the latest fiber-optic and laser technologies to detect, classify and locate opposing targets by converting a target vessel's acoustic energy into information that can be used to identify and track it," said Jim Carlsen, director of Northrop Grumman's Oceanic and Naval Systems, the business unit that received the contract.
Final delivery of ship sets seven through 10 is scheduled for 2012.
Northrop Grumman Oceanic and Naval Systems, a business unit of the company's Electronic Systems sector, designs, produces, tests and supports some of the world's most sophisticated undersea systems. Headquartered in Baltimore, Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense and commercial electronics and systems including airborne radar, navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, precision weapons, air traffic control systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.