Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has supplied the navigation and communication systems for Royal Caribbean’s newest passenger cruise ship, Liberty of the Seas, which made its debut in May.

The advanced state-of-the-art integrated bridge system (IBS) was installed by Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit. Sperry Marine also supplied the bridge electronics for all of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships, including Liberty’s sister ship, Freedom of the Seas, which entered service last year.

In accordance with Royal Caribbean’s rigorous specifications, Sperry Marine designed the IBS with multiple levels of redundancy and automatic backup systems for all critical components. The system includes multiple navigation radars, adaptive self-tuning autopilot, fiber-optic gyro heading reference system, Doppler speed logs, electronic chart display and information systems running on Sperry Marine’s proprietary Voyage Management System software, and a communication suite meeting the international Global Maritime Distress and Safety System requirements.

The bridge layout is similar to that on other Royal Caribbean ships, with an ergonomic, U-shaped, cockpit-style configuration. The conning officers can control any console using trackball devices built into the armrests of their chairs. All of the controls and displays are duplicated on the bridge wings for use during maneuvering and docking.

Sperry Marine also provides fleet-wide service and technical support for the Royal Caribbean fleet under a comprehensive service agreement, and provides classroom and onboard navigation training for the ships’ watch officers.

Liberty of the Seas is the second ship in Royal Caribbean’s Freedom-class series. The third is under construction at Aker Finyards in Turku, Finland, and will be delivered in early 2008. The Freedom-class ships are more than 1,100 feet long and have accommodations for more than 3,600 passengers. They are equipped with a wide range of passenger amenities and entertainment facilities, including a surfing simulator, cantilevered whirlpools, an H2O Zone water park, an ice-skating rink, a rock-climbing wall and Wi-Fi Internet connectivity.

Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia., 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 $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

For commercial sales inquiries, contact Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine by phone, +1 (434) 974-2656 or by e-mail, sales_commercial@sperry.ngc.com. For military sales inquiries, call +1 (434) 974-2134 or e-mail sales_military@sperry.ngc.com. Visit our Web site at www.sperrymarine.northropgrumman.com.