Northrop Grumman (NOC -0.02%) won a pair of Pentagon contracts Tuesday, both benefiting the U.S. Navy, and both relating to the Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.
The smaller of the two awards, not to exceed $7.5 million in value, is a delivery order under a previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement calling upon Northrop to repair 43 line items on the Advanced Hawkeye System used on the E-2D aircraft. Northrop is to complete these repairs by June 3, 2015.
The larger award by a factor of two, for $17.1 million, modifies a different previously awarded contract, this one for the advanced acquisition of product, fleet, and engineering support needed to begin full rate production of Lot 1 E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes. This contract should be completed by June 2014.
Northrop describes the Advanced Hawkeye as the "digital quarterback" of a Navy carrier strike group. Its role is to sweep the battlefield ahead of a strike force with its powerful airborne radars, detecting threats and assigning assets to meet these threats. In battle, the Advanced Hawkeye "manages" the Navy's warplanes in the air, identifying and keeping track of friendly and unfriendly aircraft and warning the seaborne fleet away from danger.
