MCLEAN, Va., March 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) a follow-on contract for operations and maintenance of lasers and facility-support systems used to test the effects of lasers against physical threats.
Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector will provide engineering and technical support for the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and equipment including the mid-infrared advanced chemical laser (MIRACL), the Sea-Lite beam director and the vacuum test system.
The MIRACL is the free world's first megawatt-class, continuous wave, deuterium fluoride chemical laser. The Sea-Lite beam director is a stabilized, 1.8-meter diameter, megawatt-class, high-power, laser beam-expanding telescope capable of handling close-in tactical targeting scenarios.
The vacuum test system consists of two major subsystems that allow laser effects and space system testing in a vacuum environment. The system is connected to the MIRACL laser through a series of optics and a 1,000-feet-long laser beam pipe. In addition to laser tests, the chamber can be used for a range of high-altitude space systems testing, such as payloads and payload fairings and the testing of astronomical instruments.
Northrop Grumman IT will also provide support for laboratory services, laser-experiment setup, design and documentation for test facility users.
The contract is valued at $46.9 million to the IT sector over two years with three one-year options. Northrop Grumman IT teammates include Raytheon, Waltham, Mass.; Anteon, Fairfax, Va.; Schafer Corporation, Chelmsford, Mass.; and Denco, Inc., Las Cruces, N.M.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology, headquartered in McLean, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company's technological leadership spans such areas as homeland security solutions, health IT solutions, secure wireless, cyber and physical assurance, IT and network infrastructure, managed services, knowledge management, modeling and simulation and geospatial intelligence solutions.