Northrop Grumman Co. has assembled a best-of-industry team to compete to develop the Space-based Radar (SBR) system. SBR is a transformational program designed to bring global, persistent surveillance to military and intelligence community users. The system will be an integral component of the nation’s future integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) network.
“Northrop Grumman will lead an extraordinary coalition of companies that have come together to apply the nation’s best capabilities to develop SBR,” said Wes Bush, president of Northrop Grumman Space Technology. “We are delighted to be working with The Boeing Co., Raytheon, General Dynamics and BAE Systems to bring the best solution to our customer.” Northrop Grumman, as prime contractor and system integrator, will provide the ground segment, user segment and support elements. The Boeing Co. is responsible for the design, development and production of the SBR space segment, including launch vehicle integration. “We will apply our extensive satellite and large-scale systems integration expertise to ensure the successful development, launch and operation of the SBR system,” said Roger Roberts, senior vice-president, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. “We are proud to be part of a program that is providing a global capability for better protecting our nation.” Raytheon Co. will provide global mission and system management and support to other ground segment elements. “Raytheon brings a wealth of legacy systems experience to the Northrop Grumman team,” said Mike Keebaugh, president of Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems business. “Raytheon will use this experience to enable the Northrop Grumman team to provide a horizontally integrated ground segment that satisfies the complex requirements of both national users and war fighters.” General Dynamics Corp. will provide mission and ground systems analysis and mission data processing elements. “General Dynamics’ deep ISR domain expertise, discriminating technology in areas such as remote sensing, mission data processing and architecture engineering will provide the Northrop Grumman team additional key capabilities to guarantee the best possible mission solution for our customers,” said Robert A. Pattishall, vice-president and general manager of the General Dynamics team supporting Northrop Grumman on SBR. BAE Systems brings core competencies in innovative, large-scale, information storage and retrieval technologies to SBR. “We are delighted to be a member of the Northrop Grumman team,” stated Bill Ballhaus, president of BAE Systems Mission Solutions. “We look forward to applying our expertise in enterprise architecture and large-scale information systems to design and deliver the archive and dissemination functions within the ground segment.”
Announcement of this best-of-industry team represents the culmination of a partner selection process focused on achieving the end-users’ requirements. “Structuring the industrial teaming approach to SBR requires a comprehensive system view — not just a satellite perspective,” said Bush. “In addition to the capabilities of our partners, we are bringing the tremendous resources of Northrop Grumman Corp. to support this program. This team brings the best experience, technology base and demonstrated performance capability to assure mission success for the end users.”