Northrop Grumman Unveils New Modeling
and Simulation Research Center
|
Higher
Resolution Image
Newport News President Mike Petters
(third from left) shakes hands with Rep. Thelma
Drake (R-Va.) after unveiling a mural dedicating
the Aviation Ship Integration Center (ASIC) to “the
men and women who serve America.” Also participating
in the dedication are (left to right): Brian Persons,
executive director, Program Executive Office, Aircraft
Carriers; Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.); Vice Admiral
Mark P. Fitzgerald, commander second feet, commander
striking fleet Atlantic; and Joe Frank, mayor, City
of Newport News.
Photo by Chris Oxley
Higher
Resolution Image
FlexLab Warfare Command and Decision
Center Mock-up for the next-generation aircraft
carrier class, CVN 21
Photo by Chris Oxley
Higher
Resolution Image
SimLab Theater
Photo by Rick Thompson
|
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Feb. 3, 2006 –
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) unveiled its
new Aviation Ship Integration Center (ASIC) during a dedication
ceremony today. This state-of-the-art research facility
was established in partnership with the U.S. Navy to conduct
modeling, simulation, research, development and in-depth
analysis for CVN 21-class aircraft carriers and other
aviation-capable ships.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) was the keynote
speaker for the event and spoke about the importance of
maintaining a technology lead over other countries and
other navies. “We’ve got to be faster, smarter
and have greater capabilities than ever before,”
he said. “This one-of-a-kind, high-tech facility
takes us a giant step closer to that goal.”
Two sailors from the USS Carl Vinson,
a carrier currently in the company’s Newport News
shipyard undergoing a refueling and complex overhaul,
signaled the start of the ceremonial dedication by ringing
a ship’s bell followed by a traditional playing
of a bosun’s pipe.
Rebekah Dailey, Aviation Maintenance Administration
airman, rang the original ship’s bell from Ranger,
the first ship designed and built as a carrier from the
keel up and launched by Newport News Shipbuilding in 1933.
John F. Singleton, chief warrant officer, then sounded
the bosun’s pipe as ceremony participants unveiled
a specially designed mural depicting the history of carrier
aviation dedicated to the men and women who serve America.
Other ceremony participants included Mike
Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Newport News; Rep.
Thelma Drake (R-Va.); Brian J. Persons, executive director,
Program Executive Office, aircraft carriers; Vice Adm.
Mark Fitzgerald, commander of the second fleet/striking
fleet Atlantic; Joe Frank, mayor of Newport News; and
Northrop Grumman Newport News employees.
“We applaud your facility, and we
look forward to using it,” said Fitzgerald. “I
think the fleet will be the better for it.”
ASIC is located in the Herbert H. Bateman
Virginia Advanced Shipbuilding and Carrier Integration
Center and is comprised of two laboratories called SimLab
and FlexLab.
SimLab is a 9,000 square-foot laboratory
that houses a modeling and simulation facility, an integration
facility for validation of new concepts and designs, and
a collaboration center for government and industry partners.
FlexLab is a 2,400 square-foot laboratory
that houses a full-scale mock-up of a portion of the warfare
command and decision center for the next-generation aircraft
carrier class, CVN 21. Newport News engineers, designers
and technologists will use FlexLab to investigate, prototype,
test and validate current and emerging technologies which
provide the capability to rapidly reconfigure the decision
centers.
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.
