HERNDON, Va., Nov. 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) a task order under the A-10 Thunderbolt Life-cycle Program Support (TLPS) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity program to develop and test an anti-jam embedded GPS and inertial navigation unit (EGI) for the A-10C.

Under the terms of the 18-month, $3.3 million cost-plus fixed fee hybrid task order, Northrop Grumman Technical Services will perform an integrated architecture and life cycle costs analysis and install a temporary modification. The company will then develop a system safety program and provide program and engineering management support in order to conduct an operational assessment of the EGI capability during flight test.

Northrop Grumman’s team includes subcontractors BAE Systems Control Inc., Johnson City, N.Y., and Borsight Aerospace, Farmington, Utah.

“Our unparalleled experience and demonstrated success with avionics systems integration combined with a low-cost, low-risk replacement for the current A-10 EGI made us an easy choice for the Air Force,” said Doug Hamel, Northrop Grumman Technical Services program manager for the contract. “We’ll work right beside our valued Air Force customer to minimize hardware and software changes, which will address the long-term performance issues the A-10 will encounter as it is now expected to be in service through 2030.”

Source: Northrop Grumman