Northrop Grumman, BETHPAGE: Northrop Grumman Corporation signed an agreement this month with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), one of India's leading aerospace companies. Under the terms of the agreement, both companies have agreed to work together to identify projects of mutual benefit. This would result in involving HAL in Northrop Grumman's E-2C Hawkeye program by way of sourcing aircraft assemblies and components, digitization and other related service from HAL.
Northrop Grumman sent several teams to India in 2005 to survey the nation's companies in search of potential new suppliers. The teams were impressed with the capabilities of the Indian companies surveyed, particularly HAL's expertise in aerospace design and manufacturing.
“HAL is going to be an excellent contributor to the Hawkeye team,” said Tim Farrell, vice president of airborne early warning programs for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. “The quality of their products and the creativity of their people are known to the industry. The capabilities and reliability of the Hawkeye are also well known to our allies and adversaries. HAL will help make this remarkable aircraft an even more capable tool for its operators: the U.S. Navy and, so far, six allied nations.”
Ashok K Baweja, chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., stated, “HAL, with its diverse capabilities and extensive facilities, is keen to develop a mutually beneficial cooperation with Northrop Grumman, which would help HAL to get on a high-growth trajectory.”
Northrop Grumman anticipates the E-2 Hawkeye airborne early-warning and battle-management product line to continue for 20 or more years. HAL could produce parts for well over 100 Hawkeye aircraft. The specific components are now being determined.
“India's military, which is quickly developing a sophisticated network-centric command-and-control organization, has air early warning and maritime surveillance requirements,” Farrell said. “Other aircraft can see what's beyond them, but the power in net-centric warfare is having an aircraft that has the tools to know what do with that information. Only Hawkeye 2000 delivers that capability. HAL's participation will make Hawkeye an even better buy.”
Hawkeye 2000 provides strategic operational benefits such as air-, sea- and ground-unit integration, command-and-control centers throughout a theater of operations, and its own command-and-control workstations. Hawkeye aircraft also fuse data from internal radar and other sensors into actionable battlespace information that can be readily communicated throughout the network.
The proven airborne battle manager is also valuable as a crisis command center in natural disasters, as shown recently in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and in more generic homeland defense roles, such as the drug interdiction mission over the seas bordering the United States.
The Hawkeye family benefits from the logistics infrastructure that supports an international fleet and the development plan of the U.S. Navy that will see upgrades for decades to come.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise. As one of Northrop Grumman Corporation's seven sectors, it designs, develops, produces and supports network-enabled integrated systems and subsystems for U.S. government, civil and international customers. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military and homeland security missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; battle management command & control; and integrated strike warfare.
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