The Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman (NOC -1.06%) a pair of contract wins on Tuesday, worth upwards of $16 million in aggregate.
The larger of the two awards, for $9.3 million, was an option exercise on a previously awarded advanced acquisition contract funding Northrop's procurement of long-lead materials needed to begin full-rate production of five E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Lot 2 airborne early-warning aircraft for the Navy. In addition to providing the funds, the DOD clarified that this contract has been converted into a fixed-price contract, with an estimated completion date of March 2014. This contract is different from the award issued early last month, in that that long-lead procurement contract related to "Lot 1" E-2Ds, while this contract funds work on the next production lot.
The other contract Northrop won Tuesday, also a modification of an existing contract, awards Northrop $6.8 million to fund improvements on the Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTaGS). JTaGS is said to be an information processing system for processing infrared data downloaded from the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and other satellites. Its aim is to provide early warning of tactical ballistic missile strikes.
