Northrop Picked for British Contract

Northrop Grumman Corp. on Thursday said it was selected as the preferred bidder on a $1.19-billion contract to maintain and support Britain’s AWACS fleet, a significant deal for the No. 3 U.S. defense contractor.

The Century City company said the 21-year agreement covers the Royal Air Force’s fleet of E-3D Sentry AWACS (airborne warning and control system) aircraft.

“This positions us extremely well within the [British] Ministry of Defense,” Northrop spokesman Randy Belote said. He noted that the company hoped to play a larger role in helping Britain update its overall intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

Northrop said it would discuss program details with the Ministry of Defense, with an anticipated contract award date of January 2005.

About 165 people will be employed under the contract, including about 145 people in Britain.

Northrop’s partners for the AWACS order include BAE Systems, Cobham’s FR Aviation unit and AAR Corp.

Separately, Northrop said it won a $400-million, five-year deal from the U.S. Army as prime contractor for the Command Post Platform Development and Integration Program.

Northrop, which also makes Global Hawk pilotless planes for the United States, said the award included an initial $26-million contract for design and construction of 10 prototype Army command posts.

The Army is planning to deploy the command posts for use with brigades of armored Stryker vehicles being built by General Dynamics Corp. The Army plans to have six of the lightweight brigades, which can be rapidly deployed around the world, by 2008.

Northrop’s shares fell 31 cents Thursday to $53.05 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have risen 17% in the last year.

*

Reuters and Bloomberg News were used in compiling this report.