Northrop Grumman Launches Airport Collaborative Decision Making Capability

LONDON, February 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Europe-based air traffic management subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems, has launched Airport Realtime Collaboration (ARC), a technology and services capability for the implementation of collaborative decision making solutions in airport operations.

ARC is designed to provide the airport community with more accurate and timely information for enhanced decision making and improved coordination of airport operations. The ARC technology uses existing infrastructure, such as the NOVA 9000 Air Traffic Management (ATM) suite, to deliver a common situational awareness picture through web-based geographical and tabular views of the airfield operations. ARC's processes can be optimised to combine industry best practices with local airport needs.

Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems has entered into a long-term strategic agreement with Rockshore, a specialist provider of real time information technology. Rockshore has deployed technology that is already in use in multiple airports in Europe. Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems has established a professional services team to support both the technology and business process aspects of the introduction of ARC.

Airport collaborative decision making (A-CDM) is a concept developed by the aviation community to improve the operational efficiency of airports by reducing delays, improving the predictability of events during the progress of a flight and optimising the utilisation of resources.

"The combination of technology and the support for business processes provided by ARC enables a low-risk approach to the adoption of A-CDM. The system can be implemented incrementally at a pace that is suitable for a given airport and with minimum disruption to existing operations," said Charles Houseago, managing director, Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems in the U.K. "We have a long and successful history of delivering and supporting complex systems in the aviation market across the world. This new capability will put us in an industry-leading position in A-CDM and our agreement with Rockshore allows us to offer proven technology to support this important new venture."

The introduction of ARC builds upon Northrop Grumman Park Air System's established expertise in managing aircraft traffic in complex airport environments. The world leading NOVA 9000 ATM system with its flow management and administrative tools provides airport operators with the ability to manage large volumes of air traffic delivering improved safety, efficiency and capacity. Together these systems result in enhanced surveillance and reporting information.

ARC enables airlines, ground handlers, air navigation service providers and airports to work together efficiently helping increase capacity, improve safety and reduce environmental impact and costs. As an example, the amount of time an aircraft is stationary with its engines running can be reduced and runway capacity can be managed more efficiently.

With a 50-year legacy in air traffic management systems ranging from individual airport installations to countrywide, multiple-site turnkey integrated system solutions, Northrop Grumman's state-of-the-art air traffic management systems are operationally controlling air traffic in numerous countries around the world including recent major programmes in: France, Norway, Brazil, Qatar, Oman, Canada, India, Poland, UAE, U.S. and the U.K., in both civil and military applications.

Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems based in Peterborough, U.K., and Oslo and Horten, Norway, supplies communication, navigation and surveillance systems for air-space operations 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.