Northrop Grumman Awarded $1.04 Billion For X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Systems Program

The X-46B unmanned demonstration vehicle (Northrop Grumman photo)

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 20/Satnews Daily/ — Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to continue work on the X-47B portion of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) demonstration program. Valued at up to $1.04 billion over five years for the program's operational assessment phase, the award includes initial funding of $30 million.

The J-UCAS program is an effort by DARPA, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value of networked, unmanned, air-combat systems to suppress enemy air defenses, perform electronic attack, conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and perform precision strike attacks.

In this phase, Northrop Grumman will produce and flight-test three X-47B unmanned demonstration vehicles with associated mission-control stations and logistical support elements. Flight demonstrations are expected to begin in 2007.

Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector leads a J-UCAS team that includes Lockheed Martin Corp., and Pratt & Whitney. Work will be performed at facilities in El Segundo, Palmdale and San Diego, Calif., and East Hartford, Conn.

The three objectives of the J-UCAS operational assessment program are to demonstrate the technical feasibility of developing a family of network-centric J-UCAS systems -- managed by a common operating system -- for operation from land or an aircraft carrier; to assess the joint operational utility of the J-UCAS concept in the mission areas of suppressing enemy air defenses, strike, electronic attack and penetrating surveillance and reconnaissance; and to develop production system concepts for the Navy and Air Force.

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