Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) unveiled its new iFleet suite of marine information technology (IT) solutions at the SMM maritime exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, last week.

“iFleet is a family of IT services, systems and solutions for the maritime industry, aimed at taking advantage of the increasing availability and decreasing costs of high-bandwidth satellite communications to integrate ships and back-office IT programs,” said Chris Hapgood, director of iFleet solutions at the company’s Sperry Marine unit. “The iFleet solutions are designed to utilize the latest developments in ship-to-shore connectivity, onboard wired and wireless networks, voice-over-IP techniques and software integration.”

The first iFleet installation will commence sea trials by the end of 2004, aboard a new containership being constructed for German shipowner Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG by China Shipbuilding Corporation in Taiwan. The ship is fitted with the Sperry Marine integrated navigation and communications systems coupled with voice-over-IP capabilities, and an Invsat 2400SE C-band VSAT system.

Also introduced was Sperry Marine’s StarStream product, a hybrid satellite communications solution developed in collaboration with Invsat Ltd as a part of the iFleet initiative. It combines a standard Inmarsat Fleet 77 or Fleet 55 ship terminal with a Ku-band or C-band digital broadcast receiver, providing low-cost broadband connectivity for ships, with continuous access to the Internet and office systems.

“iFleet is far more than just hardware and software,” said Hapgood. “It’s a comprehensive approach to marine IT, encompassing consulting services, hardware,
software, systems integration, airtime, worldwide service and technical support, with the ultimate goal of creating standard data networks for ships and shoreside offices.”

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.