SAN DIEGO, Aug. 16, 2010 -- With the successful completion of the preliminary design review (PDR), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) moved the U.S. Navy's Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program one step closer to delivering streamlined and updated shipboard network systems for improved interoperability and affordability across the fleet.

The two-day review, conducted at Northrop Grumman's CANES program office in San Diego, served as a forum for the Navy, Northrop Grumman and its teammates to share technical information and ensured the Navy's program requirements are clearly understood prior to entering into detailed design. The PDR and subsequent approval of the CANES design are important events leading up to the critical design review of CANES later this year and planned shipboard installation of the first system in fiscal year 2012.

"Northrop Grumman is poised to rapidly proceed into detailed design of the CANES system," said Mike Twyman, vice president of Integrated Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Systems for Northrop Grumman's Information Systems sector. "By applying the Northrop Grumman-developed Modular Open Systems Approach – Competitive (MOSA-C™) process, we continue to advance a technically and financially superior solution that meets, and will evolve with, the Navy's requirements.

"We believe a truly open systems approach is the only means to providing the Navy with an infrastructure that allows the flexibility to deploy the most capable applications while minimizing the cost and risk," added Twyman.

Northrop Grumman's MOSA-C™ is a strategic business and engineering process that realizes the lifecycle benefits of open-systems architecture and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and software. Applying MOSA-C™, the company verified "plug and play" modularity through extensive testing and demonstrated the ability of multiple COTS and open source products to meet CANES current and future requirements. The MOSA-C™ process ensures enduring solutions that will improve interoperability and lower the total cost of ownership.

The Northrop Grumman CANES system offers considerable cost and performance improvements over existing shipboard network designs including a modernized command, control communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) architecture with increased security and significantly reduced development, deployment and lifecycle costs.

Northrop Grumman team members contributing to the PDR include IBM Global Business Services, as Northrop Grumman's major technology and services partner on CANES; and small-business partners Atlas Technologies, Beatty and Company Computing, Juno Technologies, Syzygy Technologies, and CenterBeam.

Northrop Grumman is a leader in providing the most advanced, integrated cybersecurity solutions across all domains for the U.S. military, civilian government and private industry. The company also has more than 40 years of C4ISR experience and has fielded the majority of the Navy's C4ISR applications.

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:  Sudi Bruni
          Northrop Grumman Information Systems
          (858) 592-3407
          sudi.bruni@ngc.com