Tag: Northrop (Page 1 of 2)

Lockheed Martin delivers 75th APY-9 radar for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye

January 29, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Syracuse, New York, January 29, 2024 – Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), under contract to Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, has delivered the 75^th APY-9 radar that provides the U.S. Navy with information dominance through revolutionary sensor capability. More Hawkeyes have been built and delivered than any other AEW platform in the world.

The newest Advanced Hawkeye variant is at the forefront of technological capability, due in large part to Lockheed Martin’s APY-9 radar. The Northrop Grumman-built E-2 has come to be known as the U.S. Navy’s “eyes of the fleet” because of its ability to simultaneously watch over air, land and sea. Any time a Navy carrier has aircraft airborne, there is an APY-9 radar at work, guarding the United States and its allies.

On Time and On Task

The U.S. Navy has funded 80 out of 86 aircraft in the current program of record. Japan has purchased 18 E-2D Hawkeyes and France has purchased three. With U.S. and international demand, the APY-9 is expected to be in production into the late 2020’s, and in modernization and sustainment well into the 2040’s.

Click the link below to read the full press release!

Lockheed Martin APY-9 Radar

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Airbus and Northrop Grumman Team Up to shape NATO Future Surveillance and Control

November 8, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Munich, Germany / Falls Church, Virginia, 8 November 2021 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and Airbus (OTC: EADSY) Defense and Space, together with seven industrial players, have established ASPAARO, the Atlantic Strategic Partnership for Advanced All-domain Resilient Operations. ASPAARO will bid to undertake the Risk Reduction and Feasibility Studies (RRFS) for the NATO Support and Procurement Agency as part of the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) program.

The feasibility studies are a key milestone in the AFSC programme which aims to support NATO and NATO nations as they consider the Alliance’s future tactical surveillance, command and control capabilities after the current Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet reaches the end of its service life in 2035.

Following the delivery of a High-level Technical Concept in 2020 by three of the team members (Airbus, Lockheed Martin and MDA Ltd.), Airbus continues to support NATO in the concept stage of the AFSC programme together with Northrop Grumman and a strong transatlantic team including Lockheed Martin (US), BAE Systems (UK), KONGSBERG (Norway), MDA (Canada), GMV (Spain), Exence (Poland) and IBM (US).

ASPAARO offers an unparalleled set of skills and capabilities that will address the threats of today and tomorrow and will fulfil the Alliance’s requirements across all domains. The industry team will leverage its multi-domain concepts, advanced technologies and integrated designs to pave the way to a fully interoperable architecture between NATO nations while further driving innovation through combined access, investments and experience.

Northrop Grumman President of Aeronautics Systems Tom Jones emphasized ASPAARO’s focus on the NATO customer’s mission requirements. “ASPAARO brings together the best industrial capabilities across the NATO community to address increasingly vital surveillance and command and control needs. In a rapidly evolving threat environment NATO needs the strategic advantage that advanced surveillance and control provides; ASPAARO is committed to delivering those unmatched capabilities to the NATO AFSC programme.”

A decision on the contract award for the Risk Reduction and Feasibility Studies for NATO AFSC is expected in 2022.

Airbus Signs Maintenance Digital Services Contract With Royal Australian Air Force

January 29, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus (Paris: AIR.PA) has signed a contract to provide a digital services focus for the maintenance of the Air Refueling Boom System (ARBS) on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (A330 MRTT) fleet.

Based on the Airbus suite of digital services SmartForce, this service is intended to support the operator in reducing maintenance costs and improving fleet availability by optimizing the fault diagnosis and troubleshooting tasks for the ARBS of the tanker aircraft, based on data analytics applications.

The Central Data System plays a key role, allowing operators to draw on the flight data recorded by the Mission Recording System and provides information outputs about issues registered during the flight and recommended maintenance actions to fix them.

Within the KC-30A Enterprise, the Central Data System is a joint development built upon a successful long-standing collaboration among Airbus, the Commonwealth of Australia (CoA) and the Australian KC-30A Through Life Support (TLS) provider Northrop Grumman Australia, in sharing data and defining the architecture of the system.

Future proposed development of the capability will allow customers which apply this technology to their fleet to be able to extend the ARBS analytics to entire aircraft level diagnostics.

SmartForce is a suite of services enabling military operators to exploit aircraft data to improve troubleshooting, optimize maintenance effort, predict maintenance actions and plan smartly for material demand and improving the fleet availability. SmartForce capitalizes on the new power of big data analytics coupled to secured connectivity to maximize mission readiness.

Boeing Partners with General Atomics & Aerojet Rocketdyne in Homeland Missile Defense Bid

September 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Boeing [NYSE: BA] is teaming with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Aerojet Rocketdyne [NYSE: AJRD] in its bid to build the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The NGI is a key element of the MDA’s missile defense system, which is designed to intercept and destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“The Boeing-led team will deliver critical technology to enhance our homeland missile defense,” said Norm Tew, Boeing Missile and Weapon Systems vice president and general manager, and Huntsville site senior executive. “Combined, we bring decades of expertise in proven missile and weapon systems.”

On Aug. 12, the Boeing-General Atomics-Aerojet Rocketdyne team submitted an NGI offering that will improve performance and enhance the nation’s ability to defend against future threats.

GA-EMS has a long history of delivering missile technology and complex systems for critical national defense programs. “This partnership combines our legacies in innovation, bringing together new ideas to create an affordable and reliable solution to defend against emerging threats,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s propulsion systems have powered the nation’s missile defense for decades. “As the country’s premier hit-to-kill propulsion provider, we’re able to deliver low-cost, high-performance systems by leveraging our skilled workforce and strategic investments in innovative technology and materials,” said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president.

Northrop Grumman will serve as a component supplier on the Boeing-led team.

A contract award is expected later this year.

Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 Engine Marks 500th Flight with AEHF-6 Launch

March 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The successful March 26 launch of the U.S. Space Force’s sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket marked the 500th flight of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RL10 upper-stage engine.

The RL10, which powers the ULA Atlas V Centaur upper stage, is one of several Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion products supporting the mission. Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion can be found on both the rocket and the AEHF-6 satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin, the AEHF satellites provide secure, jam-proof communications, including nuclear command and control, to U.S. and allied forces.

“This launch marks an important milestone for Aerojet Rocketdyne and for the country,” said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s CEO and president. “The RL10 has supported a majority of the nation’s most important national security and scientific missions, including all of the AEHF satellites which provide communication links that are critical to our warfighters.”

The Atlas V in the 551 configuration is the most powerful vehicle in the Atlas V family, featuring five Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket strap-on motors, each generating 348,500 pounds of thrust. Designed specifically to provide extra lifting power to the Atlas V, the AJ-60A is the world’s largest monolithic solid rocket motor ever flown.

The AEHF-6 satellite, meanwhile, is outfitted with three different types of Aerojet Rocketdyne thrusters for attitude control, orbital station keeping and maneuvering. These include 12 MR-103G and six MR-106E monopropellant thrusters; and four, 5-kilowatt-class XR-5 Hall-effect electric thrusters and associated power processing systems.

The Atlas V also uses Aerojet Rocketdyne reaction control thrusters on the Centaur upper stage, as well as pressure vessels provided by ARDÉ, an Aerojet Rocketdyne subsidiary. The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and the AEHF-6 satellite is on its way to its operating location in geostationary orbit.

In addition to the Atlas V, the RL10 also powers the upper stage of ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. The RL10 has helped place hundreds of military, civil and commercial satellites into Earth orbit and has sent spacecraft to explore every planet in our solar system. The RL10’s proven reliability over more than five decades of service has made it the upper-stage engine of choice for three new rockets under development, including ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, Northrop Grumman’s OmegA, and NASA’s Space Launch System.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne: Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (AJRD), is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion systems and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, and tactical systems areas, in support of domestic and international customers.

Triton’s Pacific Arrival to Deliver US Navy Better Situational Awareness

January 29, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The Northrop Grumman unmanned aircraft system MQ-4C Triton has been deployed to the Pacific for the first time.

The deployment of the platform will give the US Navy greater maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to inform critical decision making in one of the most strategically important regions in the world.

Unmanned Patrol Squadron One Nine, or VUP-19, will operate out of Guam as part of Task Force (CTF) 72, 7^th Fleet, and is the first squadron to operate the MQ-4C.

VUP-19, nicknamed the ‘Big Red’, was established on October 1, 2013, and later commissioned on October 28 2016.

Getting unmanned systems out in front of manned aircraft and ships in the Pacific is one of the US Navy’s highest priorities.

This is in response to the emergence of China as it has expanded and reinforced its integrated web of sophisticated anti-access/area-denial capabilities in the South China Sea.

Doug Shaffer, Vice President and Program Manager of Triton program at Northrop Grumman, said the deployment was a significant milestone in the MQ-4C Triton program.

“Our partnership with the US Navy has been crucial in developing this system that will help commanders build a better common operational picture,” he said.

Triton’s ability to fly at high altitude and remain airborne in excess of 24 hours allows commanders to surveil a larger maritime area than ever before.

Designed to operate in a manned-unmanned teaming concept, Triton provides viability over massive swaths of ocean and littoral areas, enabling manned aircraft such as the US Navy’s P-8 Poseidon to focus on anti-surface and anti-sub-surface warfare.

The Triton is the US Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform

Its autonomous suite of maritime sensors allows operators to detect, track, classify and identify vessels on the ocean or in the littorals in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Australia is committed to the purchase of the Triton for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with the prospect of six aircraft to be added to the RAAF’s inventory as part of the AIR7000 program.

Designed to operate in conjunction with Australia’s planned fleet of 12 manned P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, the Tritons will provide a quantum leap in the nation’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The first of the RAAF’s Triton aircraft is expected to be introduced into service in mid-2023, with all six aircraft to be delivered and in operation by late 2025, based at RAAF Edinburgh, South Australia.

The RAAF investment in the Triton program is $1.4 billion.

The facilities and crew required to operate, train and maintain the fleet will be part of the initial $1.4 billion investment, which includes $364 million on new facilities at RAAF Bases Edinburgh and Tindal (in Northern Territory).

Boeing Out of Minuteman Missile Replacement Competition

December 14, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

The Boeing logo is displayed on a screen, at the NYSE in New York

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co <BA> has decided not to compete as a prime contractor to replace the Pentagon’s aging U.S.-based Minuteman III missile system, paving the way for Northrop Grumman Corp <NOC> to win a contract worth tens of billions of dollars.

Friday marked the deadline to submit proposals to continue work on the replacement of the nearly half-century-old intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system as the military embarks on a costly modernization of its aging atomic weapons.

Boeing said in a statement that it was disappointed it was unable to submit a bid. Northrop said it had submitted its proposal. No other bidders were expected.

Boeing’s decision not to enter a bid as a prime contractor had been foreshadowed this summer in a letter from the chief executive of Boeing Defense Space and Security, Leanne Caret, to Air Force leadership, saying Northrop’s 2018 purchase of solid rocket motor maker Orbital ATK might make it difficult for Boeing to compete on cost.

Orbital is the top producer of the solid fuel rocket motors generally used in Minuteman III and similar missiles.

Upgrading the U.S. nuclear force was expected to cost more than $350 billion over the next decade as the United States works to replace its bombs, nuclear bombers, missiles and submarines. Some analysts estimated the cost of modernization at $1 trillion over 30 years.

The Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office has said the total cost to replace Minuteman III could top U.S. $85 billion.

In 2017, the Air Force awarded https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-pentagon-gbsd/u-s-air-force-awards-contracts-to-boeing-northrop-for-icbm-replacement-idUSKCN1B12H3 Boeing and Northrop Grumman separate contracts for the early engineering phase of the program.

(Reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Rosalba O’Brien and Richard Chang)

NATO Gives Boeing $1 Billion Deal to Upgrade AWACS Reconnaissance Planes

November 27, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

– AWACS part of NATO investment in hi-tech surveillance

– Announcement comes days before NATO summit in London

BRUSSELS, Nov 27 (Reuters) – NATO on Wednesday awarded Boeing Co a $1 billion contract to upgrade its fleet of AWACS reconnaissance planes, a deal officials said showed the strength of transatlantic cooperation days before an alliance summit in London.

First flown in 1982 and repeatedly modernised, the Boeing-made planes, which can detect hostile aircraft, missiles, ships and other weaponry far beyond NATO borders, will be overhauled with more powerful computer processors, servers and equipment.

The 14 planes, based at an air base in Germany, can already exchange information via digital data links, with ground-based, sea-based and airborne commanders, but need a greater capacity to transmit data as technology develops.

The upgrade will keep one of the few military assets owned and operated by the Western alliance in service until 2035.

AWACS have been flown in support of the international coalition against Islamic State, gazing deep into Syria from Turkey, as well as along NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

“The modernisation will ensure that NATO remains at the leading edge of technology,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference alongside Boeing President Michael Arthur, standing in front of one of the planes.

“It will provide AWACS with sophisticated new communications and networking capabilities, so these aircraft can continue their vital missions,” he said.

One NATO official described AWACS, which have crews drawn from 18 different allies, as a symbol of NATO unity, at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has questioned its value and French President Emmanuel Macron last month said NATO was dying.

The upgrade will be funded by 16 NATO allies, including the United States, Germany, Turkey, Italy and Spain, and some work will be subcontracted to European suppliers including Leonardo and Airbus.

The modernisation comes as NATO takes delivery of the first of five Global Hawk drones, which will be based in Italy.

After years of delays, the high-altitude drones made by Northrop Grumman give the alliance its own spy drones for the first time and will work with the AWACS to protect ground troops, as well as other tasks.

The drones will be able to fly for up to 30 hours at a time in all weather, providing near real-time surveillance data.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Canada Bids for Mothballed German Prototype Drone

February 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German Defence Ministry is evaluating a bid from Canada to buy a high-altitude surveillance drone prototype that has been parked at a German air base for years after the cancellation of the Euro Hawk programme in 2013.

A formal bid for the prototype aircraft, which was demilitarised by the United States in 2017, was received from Canada, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday without providing further details. The Canadian embassy in Berlin had no immediate comment.

NATO was also considering a bid for the drone, but had not yet submitted it, according to sources familiar with the process.

A sale of the drone would end an embarrassing chapter that raised concerns about the German military’s procurement process and triggered the transfer of former Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere to another cabinet post.

The German government told lawmakers last year that it had spent about 700 million euros ($793.5 million) on the Euro Hawk prototype built by U.S. arms maker Northrop Grumman and the ISIS surveillance system built by Airbus.

Berlin initiated plans in 2000 to buy five Euro Hawk drones based on Northrop’s Global Hawk unmanned system at a cost of about 1.2 billion euros but later cancelled the programme because of cost overruns and problems obtaining certification for use in civilian airspace in Germany.

It had only received the one prototype aircraft that is now being sold.

Berlin is now negotiating with Northrop to buy several MQ-4C Triton drones for delivery after 2025. Northrop last year said the process could take years to complete.

German opposition lawmaker Andrej Hunko, a member of the radical Left party, said the German government had declared the aircraft incapable of flight after the U.S. Air Force removed key systems.

“The airplane has salvage value at best,” he told Reuters.

“Any proceeds from the sale would be a drop in the bucket, compared with the huge amounts spent on the programme.”

For NATO, the drone could provide additional support to the fleet of five high-altitude unmanned Global Hawk planes it agreed to buy from Northrop in 2012 for $1.7 billion, along with transportable ground stations.

Industry officials said the Euro Hawk saga highlighted problems in German military procurement, noting that NATO’s sister aircraft regularly traverse German air space to conduct surveillance missions over the North Sea. They also have no blanket approval for use in German civilian airspace but use case-by-case permissions from air traffic authorities.

It was not immediately clear what steps would be needed to return the German Euro Hawk prototype to flight.

($1 = 0.8821 euros)

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Riham Alkousaa and David Goodman, William Maclean)

Harris & L3 To Merge, Become 6th Largest US Defence Contractor

October 15, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

By Jarrett Renshaw and Harry Brumpton

(Reuters) – Military communication equipment providers Harris Corp (HRS.N) and L3 Technologies Inc (LLL.N) announced on Sunday an all-stock merger that will create the United States’ sixth-largest defence contractor with a market value of $34 billion.

Increased defence spending under U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress is driving contractors to pursue mergers so they have more scale to bid on bigger projects, spanning everything from upgrading computer systems to space exploration.

In August, Trump signed a defence policy bill that authorized $639 billion in military spending such as buying weapons, ships, aircraft and paying troops.

“We are in an environment where the economy is pretty strong, we know defence spending is coming up, the 2019 (federal) budget is up 3 percent over 2018, 2018 was up 9 to 10 percent over the prior year,” Harris Chief Executive William Brown said in an interview.

“I think there is an increasing need for more investment, more end-to-end solutions,” Brown added.

The transaction values L3 at $15.7 billion, slightly above its market capitalisation at the end of trading on Friday of $15.3 billion. Harris has a market capitalisation of $18.2 billion.

L3 shareholders will receive 1.3 shares of Harris common stock for each of their shares. As a result, Harris shareholders will own about 54 percent of the combined company, with the remainder owned by L3 shareholders.

The combined company, L3 Harris Technologies Inc, will have about 48,000 employees and customers in over 100 countries, the companies said. The merger is expected to close in midyear 2019, they added.

The new company’s board of directors will have 12 members, consisting of six directors from each company. Brown will serve as chairman and chief executive officer, and L3 CEO Christopher Kubasik will serve as vice chairman, president and chief operating officer for the first two years following the closing of the deal, the companies said.

In the third year, Brown will transition to executive chairman and Kubasik will become CEO. After that year, Kubasik will be both chairman and CEO.

“The aerospace and defence industry is continuing to see a lot of change over the last year or so, and many people have believed for a long time this combination made sense and we have worked hard to make that happen,” Kubasik said in an interview.

A string of deals have taken place in the sector. In June, U.S. defence contractor Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) acquired Orbital ATK Inc for about $7.8 billion, giving it greater access to lucrative government contracts and expanding its arsenal of missile defence systems and space rockets.

In April, weapons maker General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) bought CSRA Inc for $9.7 billion to expand its government services business, after CACI International Inc (CACI.N) withdrew its offer for CSRA following a bidding war.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is acting as financial adviser to Harris and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is serving as principal legal counsel, with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acting as special counsel to the board of directors. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) is acting as financial adviser to L3 and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal counsel.

(The story adds expected closing date in paragraph 8, detail about new company’s leadership in paragraph 10)

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Harry Brumpton in New York; Additional reporting by Chris Sanders in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)

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