Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has been selected to provide radar systems and spares for U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft.

The contracts, awarded by Sierra Nevada Corporation, and valued at $4.2 million, require Sperry Marine to supply additional new-generation AN/APN-242 color weather and navigation radar spares and systems to replace aging AN/APN-59 systems originally installed on the RC-135 fleet. Deliveries are contracted to begin in November and continue through May 2004.

The AN/APN-242 is a form, fit and function replacement for the AN/APN-59 radar systems on C-130 and C-135 aircraft. The AN/APN-242 has approximately half the number of line replaceable units and greater than an order of magnitude improvement in calculated system mean time between failures. The system can be field-installed by unit-level personnel, using existing radar cabling, connectors and mounts without aircraft modifications.

The AN/APN-242 radar systems provide weather detection and avoidance, terrain mapping and navigation, aircraft detection and beacon/IFF interrogation functions.

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., and a major center of excellence for software engineering 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.

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 systems, marine and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.