Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has received a significant Process Maturity Level rating in an assessment conducted by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The assessment was performed on the software engineering processes for integrated navigation systems and ship machinery control systems.

In accordance with the SEI-licensed Capability Maturity Model (CMM) based appraisal for Internal Process Improvement (IPI), the assessment team concluded that the overall Sperry Marine software engineering process was at the Defined (Level 3) Process Maturity Level.

The Software Engineering Institute is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense through the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. The SEI's mission is to provide leadership in advancing the practice of software engineering to improve the quality of systems that depend on software.

Dr. Bruce Wylie, vice president of Engineering for Sperry Marine, said the successful completion of this evaluation by a highly respected SEI authorized lead
assessor reflects Sperry Marine's commitment to the highest standards of software engineering. "CMM Level 3 practices have become a way of life at Sperry Marine, and our customers are seeing the results of our software IPI program. We experienced measurable increases in our product on-time delivery metrics, and we have significantly reduced our warranty costs on fielded systems. These are very satisfying results, as customer satisfaction and defect reduction are key objectives of our continuous IPI program."

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., and a major engineering center in New Malden, Surrey, United Kingdom, is part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. The business unit 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.

Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense and commercial electronics systems, including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, government systems, and logistic services.