Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been chosen by Royal Caribbean International to supply the navigation and communication systems for the next-generation Ultra Voyager cruise ship, which will be built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Finland.

The systems will be supplied and installed by Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit.

When completed in 2006, the Ultra Voyager will be the world’s largest cruise ship, roughly 15 percent larger than the five previous Voyager-class vessels. The ship will carry up to 3,600 guests and 1,400 crew.

The Ultra Voyager installation will be based on the new-generation Sperry Marine Vision FT integrated bridge system. Vision FT features large, high-resolution flat-screen displays, convenient console layouts, ergonomic controls and new operating software.

The bridge layout will be identical to those on other Royal Caribbean ships. All displays and consoles will be arranged in a U-shaped configuration. The systems can be controlled with trackball devices built into the pilot chairs’ armrests. All critical components are duplicated, providing total redundancy and continuous safe operation in case of any failure or malfunction.

Sperry Marine supplied the integrated bridge systems for all of the previous Voyager-class and Radiance-class cruise ships, and has retrofitted the existing Royal Caribbean fleet of cruise ships, ensuring that all of the ships have standardized bridge installations. Sperry Marine also provides extensive navigation training for the ships’ officers, and fleet-wide service and technical support under a comprehensive service agreement with Royal Caribbean.

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., and major engineering and support offices 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’s Electronic Systems sector 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 e-mail sales_commercial@sperry-marine.com. For military sales inquiries call +1 434 974 2134 or e-mail sales_military@sperry-marine.com. Visit our web site at www.sperry-marine.com.