HERNDON, Va., May 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a contract by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) consisting of three projects to engineer interoperable wireless geospatial solutions.
The company's Information Technology (IT) sector will develop and implement a situational awareness capability that provides location information enabled by secure wireless connectivity.
Geospatial data is information that identifies the location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on earth. This kind of information provides the DHS with the ability to have command and control and situational awareness through secure wireless connections.
"Our systems will also provide the DHS with increased knowledge about potential threats and vulnerabilities," said Sidney E. Fuchs, president of Northrop Grumman IT's TASC business unit. "Our technical expertise and experience in wireless geospatial solutions allows us to offer the DHS the very best solution."
As part of the contract, Northrop Grumman IT will develop an initial operational situational awareness system for a high-visibility port of entry in the southeast United States. This capability will provide a baseline infrastructure, common operational picture, capabilities-based analytical solutions, and wireless geospatial information dissemination from the DHS and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
For the second project, Northrop Grumman IT will design the initial operating capability for the DHS Geospatial Service Center (GSC), a facility that will deliver geospatial products and services to DHS users. The company will build a web- and wireless-enabled, geospatial intelligence and analysis capability for the GSC that can serve both products and applications that will meet the requirements of the DHS users.
The third project, the Enforcement Case Management System (ENFORCE) project, will assist two DHS Border and Transportation Security divisions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the identification and implementation of wireless geospatial requirements. The ENFORCE and Enforcement Integrated Database systems record arrests of illegal border crossings. Northrop Grumman IT will spatially enable the ENFORCE system, provide a mapping interface and geospatial analysis capabilities, and a wireless enabled component.
"Geospatial technologies are mission critical in the analysis, planning, decision-making, and operations of our nation's intelligence and defense programs," said David Zolet, vice president, Homeland Security, Northrop Grumman Corporation. "This wireless geospatial contract, coupled with our efforts to build up the DHS secure infrastructure, will help enable the agency's counterterrorism mission."
The contract is valued at approximately $10 million over one year with the potential for four one-year options.
Work on the contract will be performed at Northrop Grumman IT locations in Chantilly, Va., the TSA Transportation Security Operations Center, Herndon, Va., and DHS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology, based in Herndon, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company's technological leadership spans such areas as homeland security solutions, secure wireless, cyber and physical assurance, IT and network infrastructure, managed services, knowledge management, modeling and simulation, and geospatial intelligence solutions.
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