Northrop Grumman Corporation won one of several contracts
from the U.S. Navy to study and recommend solutions to the service’s
requirement for an around-the-clock, worldwide maritime surveillance
capability. The contract, named “persistent unmanned maritime
airborne surveillance” (PUMAS), is worth approximately $1
million for an initial five-month effort, after which the Navy will
down select contractors to continue the study for another seven
months. Total value of the two efforts could approach $4 million.
“We must determine how diverse assets that will make up the
Navy force structure in about eight years can be integrated into
a net-enabled, family-of-systems environment,” said Joseph
Garone, director for advanced concepts development at Northrop Grumman.
“Those assets include manned as well as unmanned vehicles,
both air-breathing and space-based: some that are in development
today and others that the Navy now operates and will be in service
then.