Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) has signed a $1.7 billion deal with NATO for ground surveillance system components, the company announced Sunday.
The company will provide NATO with five Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, equipped with ground surveillance radar sensors.
Those sensors are based on a multi-platform radar technology insertion program, the company said in its announcement.
Contract funds include cost of purchase and aircraft operation and maintenance that will play a role in NATO’s alliance ground surveillance system.
Thirteen NATO member nations will contribute toward the original surveillance technology purchase and all 28 alliance members will provide long-term support, the company said.
Northrop will be the prime contractor on the deal, signed Sunday by the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Agency at the Chicago summit.
The company said it will build the Global Hawks, support systems and payloads including the radar system, which tracks and targets stationary and moving objects.
Northrop and 13 nations’ industrial teams will work together to develop NATO’s surveillance capabilities, the company said.
European industry members from participating nations will build the ground element of the system.
The ground stations will be built to directly support commanders of deployed forces, mobile ground stations and remote workstations, Northrop said.
NATO AGS operates primarily from Sigonella, Italy but will be co-located with the U.S. Air Force‘s Global Hawk fleet and U.S. Navy broad area maritime surveillance unmanned aircraft systems.
