Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded contracts to supply the navigation and communication systems for the second and third Royal Caribbean Freedom-class cruise ships. The systems will be supplied and installed by Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit.

Last year, Sperry Marine supplied the systems for the first ship in the series, Freedom of the Seas, which is scheduled for completion in 2006. Freedom of the Seas, and its two sister ships, not yet named, will be the world’s largest cruise ships, carrying up to 3,600 guests and 1,400 crew. The new ships will be built at Aker Finyards - Turku.

Sperry Marine will supply the complete suite of bridge electronics for the ships, including integrated navigation and communication systems that meet or exceed international regulatory requirements. The integrated bridge system will be based on the new-generation Sperry Marine Vision FT architecture, with large, high-resolution flat-screen displays, convenient console layouts, ergonomic controls and new operating software.

The bridge layout will be similar to other Royal Caribbean ships, with all consoles and displays arranged in a U-shaped configuration for easy control from trackball devices built into the armrests of the watch officers’ chairs. All critical components are duplicated, providing total redundancy and continuous safe operation.

Sperry Marine supplied the integrated bridge systems for all of the new Royal Caribbean Voyager-, Radiance- and Vision-class ships, and has also retrofitted the same equipment on the entire fleet of existing ships, ensuring that all of the ships have standardized equipment and operating procedures. Sperry Marine also provides extensive navigation training for the ships’ watch 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 Melville, N.Y., New Malden, United Kingdom 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.