PARIS AIR SHOW, Le BOURGET, France, June 16, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Systems sector will define and develop cost-effective ways to embed antennas directly in composite outer structures of next-generation aircraft or ships under a U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research contract.
The new manufacturing approach would replace the current method of attaching antennas directly to a weapon system's outer structure, leading to improvements in electrical performance, structural integrity and aerodynamic efficiency.
Work on the three-year, $2.4 million contract will be performed under the auspices of the Navy's Affordable Integrated Structural Apertures (AISA) initiative by Integrated Systems' Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare (AEW&EW) Systems business area, Bethpage, N.Y.
"This will be critical technology for manufacturing next-generation weapon systems," said Bob Klein, AEW&EW's vice president of engineering, logistics and technology. "It will allow the outer framework of aircraft and ships to serve both as an antenna and as load-bearing structure."
According to Klein, the AISA effort will address manufacturing technology and affordability issues associated with integrating antenna arrays within the load-bearing structures of future Navy platforms such as the Advanced Hawkeye aircraft and the Navy's 21st century surface combatant, DD(X). Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the Hawkeye and leads a team completing the system design for DD(X).
The Composites Manufacturing Technology Center, operated by the South Carolina Research Authority, will administer AISA. Systems engineering development will be performed in Bethpage, while antenna design and fabrication will be done by Randtron Antenna Systems, Menlo Park, Calif., and Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector, Pascagoula, Miss.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise. As one of Northrop Grumman Corporation's seven sectors, it designs, develops, produces and supports network-enabled integrated systems and subsystems for U.S. government, civil and international customers. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; battle management command & control; and integrated strike warfare.
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