ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Aug. 27, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) today announced the U.S. Marine Corps has successfully integrated and tested the company's LITENING Advanced Targeting (AT) system on the F/A-18D Hornet aircraft.
The F/A-18D is the eighth U.S. platform with the system.
The Marine Corps fielded the systems following successful integration and flight-testing conducted by a Marine Corps, NAVAIR and Northrop Grumman team at the Naval Air Warfare Center's China Lake, California range. The test culminated with the release of a laser-guided weapon that scored a direct hit on a target. The initial capability was achieved using LITENING ATs borrowed from Marine AV-8Bs. The Marine Corps intends to procure 60 LITENING AT pods to support its fleet of 72 F/A-18Ds.
"Experience with LITENING-equipped AV-8Bs during Operation Iraqi Freedom has convinced the Corps of the need to quickly enhance the precision attack capabilities of its Hornets, and the LITENING offers combat-proven features to make this possible," said Mike Lennon, vice president of targeting and surveillance programs for Northrop Grumman. "Marine F/A-18Ds will offer capabilities such as target location and identification during the day or night, laser spot search/track, laser marker and data links for coordinated operations with ground forces, and precision target coordinate generation."
Based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., Northrop Grumman's Defensive Systems Division designs, develops and manufactures radio frequency and electro-optic/infrared products that protect military aircraft, ships, satellites and ground vehicles from attack by modern weapons; provide tactical aircraft with 24-hour targeting and navigation capabilities; ensure high-value, complex, electronic and electro-optical weapons systems are mission ready; and evaluate defense electronic performance in complex environments.
The division is a component of Northrop Grumman's Baltimore-based Electronic Systems sector, a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense and commercial electronic systems, including airborne radar, navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, precision weapons, airspace management systems, communications systems, space sensors, marine and naval systems, government systems and logistic services.