Northrop Grumman to Provide Navigation Systems for MEADS Air Defense Program

Released on Monday, February 18, 2008

LONDON - Feb. 18, 2008 - Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been selected by MBDA Italia to provide the navigation and localization system for NATO's Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program within the design and development phase.

MEADS is a jointly financed trans-Atlantic cooperative effort between the U.S., Germany, and Italy to develop an air and missile defence system that is tactically mobile and transportable. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman's Italian subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Italia, will be responsible for the navigation and localization system that supports the radars and launchers which are part of the MEADS program.

"We have been providing military navigation systems and services to the Italian government as well as other European nations for nearly 50 years," said Giovanni Morelli, business development director for Northrop Grumman Italia. "The proven capabilities of our navigation systems will help enable MEADS to offer significant improvements over existing defense systems."

MEADS is planned to replace Hawk and Patriot systems worldwide and is aimed at protecting maneuvering forces and fixed installations against current and next-generation missile threats, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft. The system is designed for rapid deployment and tactical mobility.

The design and development phase of the MEADS program first began in 2004 and is managed by MEADS International, a multinational joint venture between MBDA Italia in Italy, Lenkflugkorpersysteme (LFK) in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the U.S.

Northrop Grumman Italia is part of Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division, headquartered in California. Northrop Grumman Italia provides a variety of navigation systems and products used in air, naval and land-based applications and it serves as a prime contractor for domestic Italian and European collaborative programs. The company provides products, maintenance and customer support services to the European domestic and international markets and has its own independent research, design, development, engineering and manufacturing facilities.

In Europe, Northrop Grumman operates from locations in France, Germany, Italy and Norway, providing navigation, air traffic control and postal automation systems. In the UK Northrop Grumman operates from primary locations in London, Fareham, Coventry, New Malden, Peterborough and Solihull and provides avionics, communications, electronic warfare systems, marine navigation systems, robotics, C4I and mission planning, information technology systems and software development.