Northrop Wins Spy-Plane Contract

Northrop Grumman Corp., the nation’s third-largest defense firm, received a $202-million Air Force contract Friday to produce four unmanned Global Hawk spy planes -- the kind tested in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Northrop will supply a total of four planes with different configurations of sensors, as well as mission-control equipment, extra sensors and other spare parts, the Air Force said. Work will be completed by October 2005.

Unmanned spy planes are a central part of efforts by the U.S. military to provide troops with the latest battlefield information. Global Hawk is the Pentagon’s largest unmanned spy plane program in terms of dollars spent.

The Department of Defense said in February that it would spend $1.97 billion on the planes in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, up 47% from this year. Global Hawk is expected to account for $696 million, or 35%, of next year’s budget for unmanned planes.

Los Angeles-based Northrop’s shares rose 96 cents to $99.32 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.