Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in support of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Force (NAGSF). The contract, designed to support fleet readiness, covers operations, maintenance and lifecycle sustainment of NATO’s fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, air vehicle mission command and control stations, and trainer. Under this contract, Northrop Grumman will provide full lifecycle sustainment including repairs, onsite maintenance and operations support to NAGSF at Sigonella Air Base, Sigonella, Italy. From the U.S., the team will provide program management, software sustainment, configuration management and technical support including sustaining engineering, technical documentation updates, integrated logistics support data analysis, reach back, airworthiness and system design responsibilities.
“The signature of this contract with Northrop Grumman marks another major milestone towards the In-Service Support Phase of the NATO AGS Core System. It will enable NSPA, in its role as Life Cycle Manager of the system, to sustain this key capability on behalf of the Alliance,” said NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) General Manager, Mr. Peter Dohmen.
“We have a long legacy of partnering with the NATO AGS Force,” said Kenn Todorov, sector vice president, global sustainment and modernization, Northrop Grumman. “We will continue to deliver capabilities and services that optimize aircraft availability and fleet readiness while supporting the uninterrupted execution of the Alliance’s mission of persistent regional defense and deterrence.”
The NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system of systems, which recently achieved initial operating capability, is comprised of five RQ-4D aircraft, which is based on Northrop Grumman’s wide area surveillance Global Hawk, ground and support segments, and advanced sensor technologies. The RQ-4D Phoenix Global Hawk aircraft has met the rigorous standards required for the first large unmanned aerial vehicle – military type certification and approved by the Italian Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness (DAAA). The wide area surveillance of the RQ-4D Global Hawk and the fixed, mobile and transportable ground stations provide cutting-edge intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability around the clock, and support a full range of missions, including protection of ground troops and civilian populations, border control, crisis management and humanitarian assistance in natural disasters. Northrop Grumman also supports NAGSF with flight mission planning, spares and post design services.