NORTHROP GRUMMAN – CONNECTING AGENCIES
By Julian Nettlefold
In January Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence of Brunei Darussalam to provide a Joint Operations Centre command and control capability for the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF). The contract, being undertaken by Northrop Grumman UK, includes the supply of an integrated Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) headquarters system and a deployable Joint Operations Centre (JOC) together with the provision of training and in-country support. The JOC will provide the RBAF with a facility that will deliver command and control capability for military commands and civil organisations at both national and international level, and will be interoperable with its NATO and ASEAN allies and coalition partners. A total of 14 potential vendors from around the world participated in the competition. This award follows the completion of a rigorous phase of system assessment in which Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated the capabilities of its technical solution.
BATTLESPACE caught up with Paul James, International Business Account Manager, Northrop Grumman Information Systems in Fareham, UK, during SOFEX, to discuss this project and other developments
Northrop Grumman has a strong presence in the UK with a heritage spanning 100 years. The company operates from primary locations in London, Fareham, Chester, Coventry, New Malden, Peterborough, RAF Waddington and Solihull and provides avionics, communications, electronic warfare systems, marine navigation systems, unmanned ground vehicle systems, C4ISR solutions and mission planning, IT systems and software development and aircraft whole life support.
The Northrop Grumman Fareham facility was opened in 2003 and specialises in: Mission planning, tactical data links and battle space awareness solutions, integration of complex, mission-enabling systems, cyber security and services for defence, intelligence and government markets. The Fareham facility specialises in the development of C4ISR solutions and will be broadening its capability over the next few months, installing a cyber security test range. Headed by Sir Nigel Essenhigh, Chief Executive of the Information Systems Europe business, the facility employs 150 people, many of whom are engineers.
“What gave you the winning edge over your competitors to win the Brunei contract?”
“It was a hard fight with an initial fourteen companies bidding. Northrop Grumman presented its broad range of experience in national security solutions from strategic and tactical command and control systems, to situational awareness for defence and civil security applications, and unmanned ground systems, allowing the flexibility to develop a solution tailored to the Customer’s requirements. This ability to configure core systems to match customer requirements was a key factor. This is matched by UK-based expertise, specialist facilities and a proven track record of delivery to customers in the UK, throughout NATO and around the world.”
“Could you give an outline as to the Brunei contract requirements?”
“The main requirement is to network the information from Brunei government departments for both fixed and deployed scenarios. We have to collate information from J1 to J9 for both military and civil potential events. Our system will integrate legacy systems to give a national Common Operational Picture.”
“Are there other systems Northrop Grumman can offer to compliment its C2 capability?”
“I-JOCCS, is an operational and tactical level static and mobile headquarters C4I solution, whilst I-TaCCS is a land, sea and air and dismounted soldier-based C4I solution including the MIP messaging system. We are able to supplement these with in-field assets such as our industry leading UAVs.”
“Do you see the Middle East as a key market?”
“Yes, we see huge potential for Northrop Grumman prod