Release Details

RESTON, Va., Feb. 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Army has increased the contract ceiling of a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) contract by $574 million to provide installation kits, cables and related hardware for the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) program. FBCB2 is the key situational awareness and command-and-control system used by U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Under this contract modification, Northrop Grumman will also provide FBCB2-Blue Force Tracking installation kits, which will include capability for the new in-line encryption device, called the KGV-72.

The contract modification, awarded by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J., brings the ceiling of the current six-year contract to $908 million. To date, the company has received 34 delivery orders under this indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract, which runs through March 2011.

Installation kits, called I kits, include the cables and auxiliary hardware needed to electrically and mechanically integrate the FBCB2 computer and Blue Force Tracking system with the host platform. FBCB2 is currently being installed into about 45 different military vehicles, including many of the new MRAP vehicles. The Army has fielded more than 50,000 FBCB2 systems.

Program management, engineering and supply chain management are performed in Carson, Calif., with the final kits packaged and shipped from Huntsville, Ala.

The company was awarded the first FBCB2 development contract in January 1995.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

CONTACT: Janis Lamar
Northrop Grumman Information Systems
(703) 345-7046
janis.lamar@ngc.com