EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Thomas L. Dobrenz, a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) engineer, was honored today by the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) for his contributions to stealth, or low-observable, technology -- an area in which the company has long enjoyed a leadership position in the defense industry.
NDIA presented its Combat Survivability Award for Technical Achievement to Dobrenz for his nearly 25 years of work at Northrop Grumman helping design and develop stealth aircraft such as the B-2 bomber, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the X-47B combat unmanned air vehicle. Northrop Grumman is the U.S. Air Force's B-2 prime contractor.
Today's awards ceremony was part of the NDIA's annual aircraft survivability symposium in Monterey, Calif., where Dobrenz was also a featured speaker. "Survivability" describes the ability of a combat aircraft to complete its mission without being detected and destroyed by the enemy.
"Tom Dobrenz's accomplishments in the field of low observables have helped put Northrop Grumman at the forefront of this critical technology," said Gary W. Ervin, vice president for the company's Integrated Systems sector. "When he started in the early 1980s, the very concept of stealth was highly classified, while today people expect stealth to be an inherent part of the design of any new combat aircraft."
"It's a special honor to be recognized by a group of your peers, but this isn't an individual accomplishment," said Dobrenz. "I have been fortunate to work with some of the brightest minds in the industry at Northrop Grumman."
Dobrenz joined the company in 1980 shortly after graduating from Northrop University with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. In 1986, he was promoted to technical manager of low observables and special projects and in 1991 joined the B-2 program in advanced projects. From 1997 to 2001, he led the F-35 survivability team for JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin (Northrop Grumman is a principal member of the Lockheed Martin F-35 team).
For the last three and a half years, he has directed the systems integration and survivability activities at the Integrated Systems sector. He also contributed to the designs of Northrop Grumman's X-47A Pegasus unmanned technology demonstrator and the X-47B. Northrop Grumman will produce and flight-test three X-47B vehicles for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) concept demonstration program.
In addition to his bachelor's degree, Dobrenz earned an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
NDIA is a partnership between industry and government that facilitates growth, innovation and technological advances for all facets of the defense industrial base. Membership includes approximately 1,100 corporations and 27,000 individuals.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration organization. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., it designs, develops, produces and supports integrated systems and subsystems optimized for use on networks. For its government and civil customers worldwide, Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military and homeland defense missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; space access; battle management command and control; and integrated strike warfare.