Northrop's Florida unit to get $185M for surveillance systems
Congress’s supplemental war-time bill, which President George Bush recently signed, includes nearly $185 million for Northrop Grumman’s Joint STARS combat surveillance aircraft program
Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Melbourne, Florida, operation has received a $185 million boost from the latest funding for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the company said. The supplemental war-time bill — which President George Bush recently signed — includes nearly $185 million for Northrop Grumman’s Joint STARS combat surveillance aircraft program. The Joint STARS fleet, which provides long-range precision surveillance of enemy forces, is considered a key asset in the war-zones. Orlando Sentinel’s Richard Burnett writes that Northrop Grumman’s Melbourne unit is the prime contractor and performs engineering, design and final assembly of the aircraft’s advanced electronics.
Officials said the latest funding includes $85.4 million for advanced radar work, $36 million for bandwidth upgrades, $4.1 million for advanced radio communications, and $1.4 million for an inter-service combat operations demonstration. Northrop Grumman said the funding is a major boost in its effort to produce the next-generation of Joint STARS, a program it has led since the mid-1980s. The company employs about 2,000 in Melbourne in advanced aircraft systems and other defense electronics.
