Ultra Electronics to add maritime capabilities to Northrop Grumman’s autonomous systems

Northrop Grumman Corporation and Ultra Electronics signed a memorandum of agreement to develop new maritime domain awareness (MDA) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities for Northrop Grumman’s family of autonomous systems.

Both companies are slated to participate in a series of demonstrations this year to show how autonomous systems monitor large oceans and littoral areas for extended periods of time. The autonomous systems will persistently collect maritime intelligence so manned aircraft can more efficiently be utilized for other specific mission sets.

Persistent acoustic surveillance is critical to the ASW mission and maritime intelligence gathering. Developing enhanced systems with these capabilities is the primary focus of this collaboration, Northrop Grumman explained.

“Northrop Grumman’s numerous unmanned capabilities provide a perfect fit to our maritime surveillance capabilities,” said William Terry, president, Maritime and Land Division, Ultra Electronics. “We know this long-term collaborative effort gives our customers an affordable, game changing capability.”