N-G Receives $2.5B Missile Defense Contract

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in Reston, VA received an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity award term contract to support Ballistic Missile Defense System operational components that:

• May be deployed in the future;
• Support the Missile Defense Agency/ Integration Center missile defense-related analysis, system-level engineering, integration, interoperability, and test and evaluation;
• Support development of Joint and Combined missile defense doctrine, requirements, and concept of operations through simulations, wargames and exercises;
• Provide a rapid prototyping environment for air and missile defense missions;
• Support combatant commands by integrating missile defense concepts, space asset exploitation, and battle management/ command and control, communications, computers, and intelligence.
  

This award continues Northrop Grumman’s decade-long efforts as prime contractor for the Joint National Integration Center (JNIC) Research and Development Contract. The JNIC is the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier missile defense wargaming center, providing a one-of-a-kind environment for military commanders to develop and confirm operational concepts.

The Northrop Grumman-led team will now help the center meet its expanded mission to become a focal point for integration, deployment and operation of the USA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). The modeling and simulation performed at the JNIC provides a cost-effective means to perform end-to-end testing and integration of the BMDS in order to gain confidence in the system’s performance and reliability. Threat scenarios can be played out, ‘what ifs’ can be modeled. As the missile defense mission becomes increasingly more complex over time with additional air, space and sea-based elements added to the evolving system, the role of modeling and simulation is certain to become more important in the future.

Work will be performed at Schriever AFB in Coloradi Springs, CO, where Northrop Grumman currently has 350 employees and 600 subcontractor personnel. The overall team includes all the major U.S. defense companies involved in the BMDS, plus multiple businesses with specialized capabilities. In addition, Northrop Grumman entered into a mentor-protege agreement with Boecore, a JRDC small-business teammate, to help them become established in the broader government and commercial marketplaces.

This is a two-year base period of performance with three one-year options, and five-one year award terms for a potential maximum contract length of ten years. The initial contract period of performance is February 1, 2006 to January 31, 2008. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (H95001-06-D-0001).

Northrop Grumman is active in the ABM field. The firm also leads an industry team on the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program, and is developing the chemical laser portion of the Airborne Laser. For the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program, Northrop Grumman provides the critical Fire Control/Communications System. In the area of sensors, the company is the prime contractor for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System and is currently the prime contractor on the Defense Support Program. Northrop Grumman is also key developer of the command-and-control, battle-management and communications capability for the BMDS. See this site for more information about the company’s role in ballistic missile defense.