NGC Receives Contract Extension to Continue Advanced Virtual Training Mission

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a $64 million contract extension by the U.S. Air Force to continue as the Operations and Integration (O&I) prime contractor for Mobility Air Force (MAF) Distributed Mission Operations (DMO).

Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will continue providing an on-demand, cyber-secure, distributed training solution for training missions, including virtual air refueling, formation flight, airdrop and tactical training for Air Mobility Command (AMC) crews.

“The MAF DMO mission is to train AMC aircrews in a secure, realistic, networked environment, reducing risk and the operating costs of flight training,” said Sean Carey, AMC chief for MAF DMO. “Our capabilities enable live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) participation in a wide range of MAF, Air Force, joint service and combined exercises.”

Northrop Grumman was awarded the original contract in 2011, with the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of achieving virtual air refueling in high-fidelity training simulators – representing the tanker aircraft, boom operator pod and the receiver aircraft – all geographically dispersed yet connected across networks. The extension of the sole-source, single-award, firm-fixed-price, contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and extends through August 2022.

“The Air Force has built a successful and longstanding DMO capability with Northrop Grumman,” said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “Our experience, and the processes and innovative solutions developed across numerous programs, including MAF DMO, have resulted in a cost-effective, cyber-hardened and highly collaborative solution which has greatly expanded the level of fidelity attainable in distributed training environments.”

Northrop Grumman’s cyber-secure DMO solution has earned the first-ever continuous Authority to Operate (ATO) for a program in the Air Force Operational Training Infrastructure (OTI) simulator and training range portfolio.

“The award of the continuous ATO is a testament to the security Northrop Grumman has built into their DMO programs,” said Karl Wiers, OTI Security control assessor/authorizing official designated representative. “Cybersecurity is increasingly important as pilots and crews need to be able to connect wherever their missions take them around the world.”

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.