Boeing, Northrop pursue more BMD work

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. defense giants Boeing and Northrop Grumman have jointly bid for work on the Ground-based Midcourse Defense element of the ballistic missile defense system.

The Boeing-Northrop Grumman GMD proposal submitted to the U.S. Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency brings together a broad industry group selected for extensive heritage GMD capability and relevant expertise.

The team has worked for the past year to prepare the expansive proposal, which includes an overview of past performance and outlines future program support.

"This development and sustainment contract proposal is backed by the full commitment of Boeing, Northrop Grumman and all of our team members," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "We have been privileged to have been partners with the Missile Defense Agency through the development and deployment of the GMD system and, now with Northrop Grumman, we will bring to GMD over 50 years of experience in sustaining and modernizing the Minuteman ICBM weapon system.

"We look forward to continuing for that partnership in this next phase of the GMD program."

Boeing will lead the industry team in the development, deployment, integration and testing of the GMD weapon system. The team currently operates and sustains the deployed weapon system while actively developing and testing innovative technologies to provide increased reliability and evolving needs and requirements.

Northrop Grumman, part of the Boeing Ground-based Midcourse Defense team since 1998, is responsible for designing and deploying the command-and-control systems that form the backbone of the ground system.