WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Jan. 18, 2011 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Navigation Systems Division will host a meeting of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium at their Woodland Hills, Calif., facility this week. The FACE Consortium is a collaborative group of avionics industry and U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force members who are working to develop standards for a common operating environment to support portable capability applications across Department of Defense (DoD) avionics systems.

This week's meeting marks the fifth gathering of the FACE technical and business working groups. FACE members will focus on drafting and validating standards for a common modular, open architecture operating environment, which will allow capabilities to be extended across aircraft and unmanned avionics computer systems. The goal is to shorten the time-line and reduce the cost required to develop and integrate new capabilities into the platform Operational Flight Programs (OFPs).

"Northrop Grumman is excited to host the FACE Consortium meeting and to be part of this industry and government team at the forefront of modular open architecture avionics," said Ike Song, vice president of situational awareness systems at Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division. "The important topics discussed here this week will help ensure that our armed forces all benefit from the latest avionics technology without unnecessary costs or delays in the future."

Founded in July 2010 by The Open Group, a vendor-neutral and technology neutral consortium, the FACE Consortium currently consists of over 20 member organizations. The final open architecture and supporting standards created by the group will be adopted for future U.S. military avionics capability procurements.

"The work that the FACE™ Consortium is undertaking is critical for creating modular and interoperable avionics systems across the armed forces," said David Lounsbury, CTO of The Open Group. "At our fifth meeting of the FACE Consortium, The Open Group will continue to help the consortium members create consensus standards to enable interoperability for avionics manufacturers, vendors and the military. We look forward to facilitating the development of these standards and helping to ensure the success of the FACE Consortium."

The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, which drives the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow™ that will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry's premier certification service. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org .

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. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information. 

  CONTACT: Gina Piellusch
         Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
         (818) 715-2285
         gina.piellusch@ngc.com