EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will help NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., mature key airframe structures technologies under a recently awarded indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract.
Northrop Grumman won the contract for its Structures and Materials and Aerodynamic, Aerothermodynamic, and Acoustics Technology for Aerospace Vehicles (SMAcTAV) proposal. Under the five-year contract, the company will compete for up to $39 million in total task orders. Award levels are expected to range from $200,000 to $1 million.
"This award recognizes Northrop Grumman's leadership in the development of innovative, mission-enabling airframe structures technologies," said Allen Lockyer, manager of advanced structures development for the company's Integrated Systems sector. "These skills have contributed heavily to the company's development of platforms such as the B-2 stealth bomber, the Global Hawk aerial reconnaissance system and several advanced, high-altitude surveillance assets."
An ID/IQ contract is a funding vehicle that allows U.S. government customers to allocate a set amount of funding to a general category of activities for a prescribed amount of time. Over the life of the contract, task orders are defined and awarded to individual contractors to conduct particular activities. Under the ID/IQ approach, NASA can issue a task order for which all contractors compete or it can award funds on a sole-source basis to a company that has proposed a unique technology development idea.
"ID/IQ task order contracts give the government a flexible, cost-effective way to have aerospace contractors conduct unique, short-duration research projects," explained Tod Palm, Northrop Grumman's program manager for the ID/IQ contract. "These projects provide opportunities for large contractors and small businesses alike to gain knowledge and experience that could help them win larger government contracts in the future."
According to Palm, Northrop Grumman expects task orders under the SMAcTAV contract to relate to the following topics: structural mechanics and durability; structural dynamics; aeroelasticity and flight controls; metals and thermal structures; analytical and computational methods; advanced materials; materials processing; configuration aerodynamics; acoustics; aerothermodynamics; and hypersonic air-breathing propulsion.
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.
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