Northrop
Grumman Selects Preliminary Designers For CVN 21 Aircraft
Weapons Elevator
NEWPORT
NEWS, Va., Feb. 16, 2004 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's
(NYSE:NOC) Newport News sector has selected Federal
Equipment Company and Oldenburg Lakeshore, Inc. as preliminary
designers for the aircraft weapons elevator on the new
generation aircraft carrier, CVN 21. The two companies
and their respective technology partners will engage
in a yearlong effort to refine their designs to build
and test a full-scale, one-quarter load elevator drive,
known as a "proof of concept."
Innovations
for the CVN 21 include an enhanced flight deck arranged
for increased sortie rates and improved weapons movement.
An essential part of achieving these goals is with the
incorporation of an advanced weapons elevator (AWE).
In
March 2003, Newport News hosted an AWE Industry Day
with numerous elevator suppliers and industry leaders
attending. Following that event, five elevator vendors
and their technology partners were asked to compete
in an AWE concept design.
The
concept designs of the five teams were reviewed for
their technical feasibility, risk, safety, weight and
other features. The designs selected as most promising
to proceed into the next phase, or preliminary design,
were from Federal Equipment Company and Oldenburg Lakeshore,
Inc.
Completion
of the preliminary design competition will be in early
2005, when one vendor team will be awarded the contract
to continue with their AWE proposal and develop a detail
design and a full-scale prototype for land-based testing.
Prototype testing will be completed by late 2007, and
the selected vendor will begin to manufacture the production
units scheduled for shipboard installation in mid-2010.
The
contract award value between the companies is in excess
of $6 million.
Northrop
Grumman Newport News, headquartered in Newport News,
Va., is the nation's sole designer, builder, and refueler
of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of only
two companies capable of designing and building nuclear
powered submarines. Newport News also provides after-market
services for a wide array of naval and commercial vessels.
The Newport News sector employs about 19,000 people.
CONTACT:
Jerri Fuller Dickseski
Northrop Grumman Newport News
(757) 380-2341
