SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica Company, today announced the delivery of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme proposal from prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation. AGS is the most ambitious transatlantic, co-operative NATO programme to date. It will provide a new Intelligence Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR) capability especially suited to modern operational scenarios.
NATO AGS is led by Northrop Grumman Corporation. SELEX Galileo plays a leading role in the European part of the programme alongside EADS Cassidian.
“This important programme is based on strong translatlantic cooperation between industry leaders in defence and security and will help to meet NATO’s urgent operational requirements.” said SELEX Galileo CEO Fabrizio Giulianini, adding “SELEX Galileo is a leader in ISR systems, and the Company will play a major role in helping the AGS programme address new operational scenarios characterised by increasingly diverse and intense threats.”
SELEX Galileo is the programme’s industrial lead in Italy, and will also be responsible for cooperative activities with industrial partners from participating nations Romania and Bulgaria.
The Company will be playing a leading role in the mission operation support and management as well as mission communications, the latter in collaboration with SELEX Communications, a fellow Finmeccanica company. SELEX Galileo’s role as Italian industry lead is especially relevant as the AGS programme’s main operating base will be sited at the NATO facility in Sigonella, Sicily.
Giovanni Oliveri, SELEX Galileo’s NATO AGS Programme Director, commented on the news saying “SELEX Galileo is proud to have contributed to reach this important milestone. We are now ready to provide all necessary support to enable NATO to award the contract in July 2011 as planned.”
The NATO AGS system will provide the Alliance with an airborne ground surveillance core capability designed to meet its Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance requirements for the 21st Century. The system will also support a variety of new mission requirements for NATO including crisis management, homeland security and humanitarian relief. NATO AGS will provide the commanders with an accurate ground situation awareness that will be available to NATO and national decision makers.
