FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 27, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is displaying a wide range of capabilities and systems that support America's soldiers at the Association of the U.S. Army Winter Symposium and Exhibition (AUSA).
The AUSA theme for the symposium, which is being held today through Friday at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is "Supporting America's Best: It's all About the Soldier."
Northrop Grumman provides C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), precision-strike, force protection, and training and simulation systems that help ensure the safety and combat effectiveness of soldiers today and is advancing technology to improve future support.
At booth 1707, Northrop Grumman is featuring several programs that support land forces in the global war on terrorism, including: Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2)-Blue Force Tracking; Command Post Platform (CPP); Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS); Longbow Weapons System; Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR); and a manned-unmanned ground vehicle.
The Army's principal digital command and control system at the brigade and below level, more than 40,000 FBCB2 systems have been deployed worldwide. As part of the Battle Command Product Line display, Northrop Grumman will illustrate how this next-generation software can also be leveraged for the Joint Battle Command Platform program to maintain current operational capability while building toward a unified battle command solution for the future force.
Northrop Grumman has delivered more than 300 CPPs - high-tech tactical operations centers used by brigade-level battlefield commanders to direct operations and control forces - for deployment to Army units worldwide. A CPP Light system is on display, featuring a M1152 Humvee carrying three transit cases and two radio racks.
The Joint STARS aircraft system, which has been deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom longer than any other aircraft system and has accumulated more than 35,000 combat hours, is also featured. Joint STARS is the world's most advanced wide-area airborne ground-surveillance, targeting and battle-management system.
The exhibit also features a model of the Longbow Fire Control Radar and its weapons counterpart, the radar-guided, "fire and forget" Longbow Hellfire missile. The system enables to Apache attack helicopter to detect, classify and prioritize ground targets day or night, in poor weather and obscured conditions, and then attack those targets with pinpoint accuracy from safe ranges.
Another battle-proven system the company is featuring is its LLDR, which provides the capability to locate, track and target enemy position day or night and in nearly all battlefield conditions. The system uses a day camera, thermal night sight, eye-safe laser rangefinder, digital magnetic compass and GPS to provide precise target coordinates.
Also displayed is a manned-unmanned ground vehicle. This marsupial unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) carrier can be driven manually or by tele-operation and transport and deploy a small UGV, such as a Remotec HD-1. The HD-1 has been operated in theater for missions including explosive ordnance disposal and improvised explosive device defeat.
Northrop Grumman is also highlighting its U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensors (ACS) program pursuit. The company recently announced it will lead a team to compete for ACS, the Army's next-generation intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition aircraft, which will provide commanders in theater and troops on the ground with critical situational intelligence.
The company display also features the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A), which allows analysts to gather intelligence data from ACS and multiple other sources and distribute it to the network of Army battle command applications. Northrop Grumman and its teammates are integrating multiple systems into the multi-intelligence DCGS-A system.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $32 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.