Northrop Grumman Awarded Production Contract to Supply Bridge and Navigation Suite for Next-Generation U.K. Aircraft Carriers

LONDON, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has signed a full production contract for the Integrated Navigation Bridge System (INBS) for the U.K. Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier Programme. The company also signed a design phase contract for the Navigation Lights, Shapes and Sounds (NLSS). Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

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Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine will build and deliver the complete INBS, including electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS-N (U.K.)) for the new aircraft carriers. The system will include navigation planning, electronic charts and radar displays, as well as a comprehensive set of sensors and software. The contract also provides for equipment integration and testing. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed in 2018. Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine has already completed the initial design phase of the contract, including change requests, and is currently designing a Navigation Light System under an option in the production contract.

"Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine has a long and productive relationship with the Royal Navy as a major supplier of navigation radars, gyrocompasses, inertial navigation systems and platform management systems, and we recognize the critical importance of the new aircraft carriers for the defense posture of the U.K.," said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. "Sperry Marine has installed more than 2,300 ECDIS systems on commercial ships and international naval vessels around the world, and the company's naval ECDIS systems are standard on U.S. Navy ships and submarines."

The INBS/ECDIS-N (U.K.) is based on Sperry Marine's advanced VisionMaster FT(TM) ship navigation technology and will integrate all of the ship's navigation sensors and systems into a modern, efficient, ergonomic network of multi-function workstations to meet operational requirements.

The VisionMaster FT ECDIS-N (U.K.) fully meets MoD specifications, NATO standards STANAG 7170 and STANAG 4564, and International Electrotechnical Commission standards IEC 62288 and IEC 61174.

In a ceremony at the Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine offices in New Malden, the contracts were awarded by BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies Ltd as a member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), the industrial alliance which includes BAE Systems Surface Ships Ltd, BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies Ltd, Thales U.K. Ltd, MoD and Babcock Ltd. The contracts were signed by David Bass, QEC Mission System Head of Procurement, and David Perry, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Naval and Marine Systems Division.

Sperry Marine is a business unit of Northrop Grumman's Naval and Marine Systems Division. Headquartered in Charlottesville with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com for more information.