Northrop Grumman Corp. has formed a team to compete for the prime role at the US Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Joint National Integration Center (JNIC). With a decade of experience supporting the JNIC, Northrop Grumman is well positioned to partner with the government and other missile defense companies to achieve new levels of capabilities in the nation’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Located at Schriever Air Force Base, the JNIC is the US Department of Defense’s premier missile-defense war-gaming center, providing a one-of-a-kind environment for commanders to develop and confirm operational concepts. Northrop Grumman has been the lead contractor at the JNIC since 1995, successfully supporting the development and application of local and distributed modeling and simulation, war-gaming, testing and analysis of national and theater air and missile-defense systems.
The role of JNIC, in developing and now deploying and operating the BMDS, is growing. As each element of this layered capability is deployed and activated, the winning team will work closely with the agency to expand the center’s mission to integrate across the full spectrum of development and operational activities. “Northrop Grumman has formed a world-class team that is committed to helping the agency successfully integrate the various missile-defense elements into a robust operational capability that will protect the US, our forward-deployed forces and our allies from the threat of a ballistic missile attack,” said Ronald D. Sugar, Northrop Grumman chairman, chief executive officer and president. “As the current prime contractor at the JNIC, Northrop Grumman will build on its solid foundation and the strong partnerships in place to help the agency take the JNIC forward in meeting its new integration and operational missions.” A Request for Proposal was issued in March for the JNIC Research and Development Contract (JRDC), with the final award expected in November 2005.