Northrop Grumman Gets Contract

Northrop Grumman Corporation's Sperry Marine unit has won a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $27.2 million to provide engineering and technical support for integrated ship navigation and control systems. The three-year contract, awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, will run through September 2004. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract includes engineering services and technical support for installed systems, spare parts, hardware and software upgrades, logistics and maintenance support, labor and material. The contract supports Sperry Marine's integrated navigation and ship control technology.

The Sperry Marine integrated bridge system (IBS) networks the ship's systems and sensors into a single interface, providing a high level of reliability and redundancy of critical equipment thereby minimizing the ship's operating costs while its modular structure easily expands to meet future requirements.

The IBS includes primary navigation sensors, radars, electronic chart display and information systems, gyrocompasses, autopilots, ship control systems, echosounders and other navigation systems, all running under Sperry's proprietary Voyage Management System software. The IBS improves situational awareness for the watchstander by providing an integrated real-time picture of the ship's position and movement across an electronic chart display. Sperry Marine has installed similar IBS equipment on over 150 U.S. and international naval ships and submarines.