Air Force hires Northrop Grumman to manage weather systems

The Air Force’s Weather Agency today awarded Northrop Grumman a $239 million contract to provide support, operations control and other functions under the Systems Engineering, Management and Sustainment II contract. Under the one-year contract, which has four one-year options, the company will help the Air Force increase the effectiveness, reliability and performance of a variety of classified and unclassified weather systems. The Air Force Weather Agency provides several systems that deliver accurate and timely environmental information to the Defense Department to help commanders at all levels make better decisions about their battlespace. Northrop will work on several systems, including the Global Theater Weather Analysis and Prediction System and the Joint Air Force and Army Weather Information System. In addition to support and operations controls, the company will provide information assurance, integrated logistics and help-desk services. Northrop Grumman also held the previous contract awarded in 2002 to TRW for $119 million. The company bought TRW in 2002.Northrop ranked No. 3 on Washington Technology’s Top 100 federal vendors in 2007 earning $6.8 billion.