WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., March 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a $21.5 million subcontract by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) to manufacture key elements of the Lightweight Wide Aperture Array (LWWAA) fiber-optic acoustic sensor systems for the fifth and sixth Virginia-class submarines, SSN 778 and 779.
The LWWAA system is a set of large array panels that are mounted on either side of the submarine, and which provide major sonar sensor input to the submarine's combat system. Instead of traditional ceramic hydrophone sensors, the LWWAA uses fiber-optic and laser technologies to convert a target submarine's acoustic energy in the water into information that can be used to identify and track it.
"The hydrophone/acoustic modules and onboard electronics we produce for LWWAA demonstrate how our fiber-optic acoustic systems expertise can be applied to meet customer needs for high-performance reliable underwater systems," said Alexis Livanos, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division. "We also supplied LWWAA shipsets one through four."
Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division, part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, supplies situational-awareness products for international and domestic defense and commercial markets and offers integrated avionics, navigation and positioning systems for space and high-value platform products, navigation-grade and tactical-grade inertial systems, fiber-optic gyro systems designed to customer requirements, underwater fiber-optic sensors, identification friend-or-foe transponders and interrogators, cockpit displays and computers, and logistic support products and services.