[SatNews] A team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has submitted its bid for the U.S. Air Force's Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) modernization program.

The Air Force Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., issued a request for proposals Dec. 16, 2010, for the AOC Weapon System program, which is valued at more than $800 million over the next eight years. The program is a weapon system modernization effort to integrate mission services into a common computing environment built upon a network-centric infrastructure. The AOC Weapon System program will significantly enhance the speed of command for planning and execution of air and space force operations and enable more effective, dynamic planning for irregular warfare or counterinsurgency operations for the Air Force. Northrop Grumman's AOC Weapon System warfighter test and integration laboratory is located in Newport News, Va. The company will use the facility for close collaboration with Air Force personnel to deliver a fully integrated and tested AOC Weapon System solution. The Northrop Grumman-led team includes Accenture, Reston, Va.; Intelligent Software Solutions, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Applied Minds, Glendale, Calif.; Bosh Global Services, Newport News, Va.; DMM Ventures, Yorktown, Va.; and Layer 7 Technologies, Washington, D.C. The AOC Weapon System program will minimize information technology footprint and integrate more than 40 independent programs into a common computing infrastructure. The program will optimize a net-centric implementation for centralized command and control (C2) and decentralized execution.