Northrop Grumman Highlights Unmanned Systems Capabilities at UV Europe 2009

Northrop Grumman Corporation will be participating in the UV Europe conference and exhibition where it will highlight its industry leading capabilities in unmanned aircraft systems and unmanned ground systems, and their effectiveness in combating piracy and irregular warfare.

Northrop Grumman has a 60-year history of providing more than 100,000 unmanned aircraft systems to military customers in the US and around the world.

UV Europe takes place 22-23 July 2009 at the Celtic Manor Hotel, Newport, Wales and will address military and civil unmanned systems operating in all three environments - air, land and sea.

Northrop Grumman representatives will be among the speakers on the first day of the conference. Gene Fraser, vice president and deputy of the Strike and Surveillance Systems Division for Northrop Grumman will present on unmanned aircraft systems in the maritime irregular warfare environment including piracy, maritime patrol and non-combat operations.

Trevor Hughes, senior engineering manager Unmanned Ground Vehicles (Remotec), for Northrop Grumman Information Systems sector in Europe will speak on the design and technology challenges of unmanned ground systems.

"As unmanned aircraft systems technologies mature, modern armies are realizing that the integration of autonomous systems into operational networks can result in considerable savings while significantly improving mission capability," said Gene Fraser.

"Unmanned aircraft offer vital persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities for peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions but also have an increasingly important role in maritime patrol and non-combat operations."

Northrop Grumman will be exhibiting at UV Europe and will highlight its wide range of unmanned aircraft systems. The Global Hawk high altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft will be featured including the U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS), the German Luftwaffe Euro Hawk(r) and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance unmanned airborne segment. The MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft will also be highlighted together with the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System and the medium altitude, extended range MQ-5B Hunter unmanned aircraft.

In addition, Northrop Grumman and AESIR Ltd, developers of a range of vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft for urban and rural environments, will be collaborating in a joint demonstration of unmanned ground and aircraft capability for remote detection and disposal of explosive ordnance.

Northrop Grumman's Wheelbarrow Mk8 Plus II unmanned ground vehicle adapted with the removal of its standard arm will be used as a remotely-operated vertical take-off and landing platform for AESIR's Embler unmanned aircraft, a development craft powered by an electric engine.

Northrop Grumman has a strong presence in the UK with a heritage spanning nearly 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, aircraft whole life support and airport security solutions.