bullate_textNorthrop Grumman has signed a six-year agreement with Quickstep for the supply of components to support the global aerospace program. The order was signed under an existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian-owned and operated company, with work to be completed in Sydney, New South Wales.

“Northrop Grumman has an unwavering commitment to help grow Australia’s sovereign defence industry,” said Christine Zeitz, general manager, Northrop Grumman Asia Pacific. “Quickstep Holdings is a long-time member of our global supply chain, providing critical capability into one of the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) most important programs, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration over the coming years.”

Northrop Grumman manufactures the centre fuselage section for all three F-35 variants. In 2012, the company integrated Quickstep into its global supply chain for the F-35 and has become Northrop Grumman’s largest Australian supplier for the program.

“Growing our nation’s industrial base is vital to meeting the ongoing and future capability needs of the ADF, as well as supporting the next generation of game-changing technologies,” said Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry. “Partnerships like this between a global defence company and an Australian business have an important role to play.”

The Australian Government joined the global F-35 program in 2002, and for the last 20 years, more than 70 directly-contracted Australian businesses have made significant contributions to the design and development phases of the program.

“We are delighted to have secured this multi-year buy with Northrop Grumman,” said Josh Scanlon, business leader, Aerostructures, Quickstep Holdings Limited. “These firm orders secure our Northrop Grumman F‑35 order book through 2025 and are a great example of the value Australian industry delivers to the world’s largest defence aerospace program.”

Northrop Grumman is a principal partner to Lockheed Martin Corporation in the design, development, production and sustainment of the F-35 multirole fighter for the United States and its allies. In February 2022, Northrop Grumman delivered its 900th fuselage to the program.

Quickstep Holdings Limited is the largest independent aerospace composite business in Australia, with facilities in Sydney, Geelong, Melbourne and Dallas. The group employs more than 280 people in Australia and internationally.

Northrop connections multi-service capabilities at Project Convergence
At Project Convergence 2022 (PC22), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) connected multi-service capabilities to enhance all-domain detection, tracking and engagement in the battlespace. With each successful experiment and rapid integration Northrop Grumman proved Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) can be a reality, allowing the U.S. Joint Forces and Allies to act as one resilient force.

Northrop Grumman worked closely with the U.S. Army in successfully demonstrating the integration of network enabled offensive and defensive fires during the PC22 test and experimentation. The multiple successes at Project Convergence built on the company’s proven performance in connecting the battlespace across domains.

“Northrop Grumman is pioneering JADC2 by providing full battlespace connectivity,” said Christine Harbison, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “At Project Convergence, our systems gave the warfighter mission advantage by enabling them to make a more informed and faster decision in both defensive and strike missions.”

The Northrop Grumman systems involved in Project Convergence included the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), Forward Area Air Defence Command and Control (FAAD C2) and Mission Training Complex Capabilities Support (MTCCS) III Corps.

At Camp Pendleton, California, through the integration of the Army’s Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) and IBCS, the Army successfully demonstrated the capability for IBCS to provide data for offensive fires for the first time in support of long-range precision fires objectives. IBCS rapidly integrated a U.S. Marine Corps sensor, Marine Expeditionary Littoral Persistent Sensor (MELPS), allowing information to disseminate to the U.S. Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) fire control network. Additionally, there was an airspace command and control (AC2) interface with the U.S. Air Force to provide increased situational awareness.

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