Northrop Grumman to Supply Steering for USN Destroyers

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded contracts totaling $14.4 million by prime contractors General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries to supply the steering gear system for three new DDG 51 Class Arleigh Burke destroyers.

The steering gear system is vital for the control and maneuverability of the ship and is directly linked to the integrated bridge, as well as the navigation and inertial navigation systems that Northrop Grumman is supplying under separate contracts for the DDG 51 Class destroyers.

Northrop Grumman has been the sole provider of the steering gear system for the DDG 51 Class since production began during the 1980s. This contract award brings the program's total to 69 steering systems.

"These latest awards for the DDG 51 Class steering gear system demonstrates Northrop Grumman's continued excellence in delivering quality mission-critical systems for U.S. Navy ships and submarines," said Bill Hannon, vice president of Northrop Grumman's Maritime Systems business unit. "Our expertise in producing steering, integrated bridge, inertial navigation, machinery controls and other systems makes Northrop Grumman a world leader in shipboard navigation, sensors and ship controls."

The work will be performed chiefly in Charlottesville and the steering systems will be installed on the DDGs at the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine and the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi before the destroyers are delivered to the Navy. Equipment deliveries are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2015 and continue into the third quarter of 2017.

northropgrumman.com