Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit is marking a major milestone in the history of the company’s leadership in radar technology with the celebration this year of the 60th anniversary of the launch of its first marine radar.

Sperry Marine’s heritage in marine radar dates back to August 1949, when the U.K.-based Decca Marine Group introduced its first commercial marine radar product, the Type 159. The Decca brand product lines later became incorporated with Sperry Marine under Northrop Grumman ownership.

“We are delighted to take advantage of this important milestone to honor the long tradition of engineering innovation and customer service embodied in our radar product lines,” said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. “Over the past six decades, our R&D team has been responsible for important innovations in marine radar technology, including the first true motion radar in 1956, the first anti-collision radar in 1968, the first type-approved color radar in 1982 and the first computer-controlled automatic clutter suppression in 1998.”

DaCunha noted that the company has sold more than 150,000 marine radar sets in almost every country of the world since the first product appeared in 1949.

“Our new-generation VisionMaster FT™ family of integrated bridge systems is the heir of this great tradition of innovation,” said DaCunha. “With VisionMaster FT, we have pushed the technology envelope even further, by integrating the radar more thoroughly and completely with electronic charts and other navigation sensors into a seamless bridge navigation network.”

The Decca Marine Group was a direct descendent of the famous Decca Company, which was established prior to the First World War and became world renowned for its Decca gramophones and record label. During World War II the company was responsible for developing and deploying the Decca Navigator System, a long-range radionavigation aid that was used to assist Allied ships in the D-Day landings on Normandy. The Decca Navigator System was commercialized after the war and became a mainstay of electronic navigation throughout Europe and other regions for more than four decades. In 1946, the company started a research project to develop a commercially viable marine radar product. This R&D effort resulted in the Type 159, which established a new standard in performance and pricing. Major shipping companies around the world quickly adopted this new technology, and Decca catapulted into a position of dominance in marine radar that was to last a good many years.

Decca Marine Group was purchased by Racal Electronics in 1980. In 1997, Litton Industries purchased the business and merged it with Charlottesville-based Sperry Marine and another unit to create Litton Marine Systems. Northrop Grumman purchased Litton Industries in 2001 and renamed it the Sperry Marine business unit.

Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, 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 Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.