CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- March 19, 2004 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has been awarded type approval from the Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas for its shipboard Machinery Automation and Integrated Ship Control Solution (MAISTRO).

MAISTRO has been developed by Sperry Marine to provide a fully integrated machinery control, monitoring and automation solution that can be configured for virtually any size, type or class of vessel.

MAISTRO is based on commercial off-the-shelf hardware with specially designed software modules to provide a cost-effective, flexible and efficient solution that can be adapted to any ship’s requirements. The system front end, using Windows-based technology for screen navigation, provides an instinctive user-friendly design that minimizes training and reduces operator workload and the associated costs.

The key feature of the MAISTRO system is the scalability it offers to meet the requirements of different vessels and owners. The open-architecture network-based solution can be integrated with a wide variety of subsystems. The basic MAISTRO configuration provides integrated monitoring and alarms for the ship's main propulsion system, but more advanced versions include fully integrated automatic control of propulsion, power management and ship systems. MAISTRO can also be integrated with other systems such as ship safety, CCTV and bridge control.

Sperry Marine has extensive experience in shipboard monitoring, alarm and control systems. The company's earlier-generation ISIS 250 and ISIS 2500 systems have been fitted on hundreds of vessels. Sperry Marine has primary responsibility for developing the Platform Management Systems for the Royal Navy Type 45 program.

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., and major engineering facilities in New Malden, U.K., and Hamburg, Germany, is part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. Sperry Marine provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries, and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense and commercial electronic systems including airborne radar, navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, precision weapons, airspace management systems, communications systems, space sensors, marine and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.

For commercial sales inquiries contact Sperry Marine by phone, +1 434 974 2656 or by e-mail, sales_commercial@sperry-marine.com. For military sales inquiries contact Sperry Marine by phone, +1 434 974 2134 or by e-mail, sales_military@sperry-marine.com. More information may be found on the Sperry Marine website at www.sperry-marine.com.