Northrop Grumman to build DHS geospatial systems

Northrop Grumman Corp., Los Angeles, won a contract from the Homeland Security Department to build interoperable, wireless geospatial solutions, the company said.

The contract is worth approximately $10 million over the first year, with four one-year options. The total potential value was not immediately known.

Northrop Grumman's IT division in Herndon, Va., will work on three separate geospatial projects to give DHS situational awareness using location-based information delivered over secure wireless connectivity.

Geospatial intelligence combines maps and imagery to describe and assess places and events on Earth.

"Our systems will provide DHS with increased knowledge about potential threats and vulnerabilities," said Sidney Fuchs, president of Northrop Grumman IT's TASC business unit.

According to company officials, Northrop Grumman IT's first project will be to develop a situational awareness system for an unspecified port of entry in the southeast United States. Northrop Grumman will engineer a baseline infrastructure, common operational picture, capabilities-based analytical solutions and a system for wireless geospatial intelligence dissemination from DHS.

For the second project, Northrop Grumman IT will design a system for the department's Geospatial Service Center, a facility that will deliver geospatial products and services to department users. The new geospatial intelligence system will be Web- and wireless-enabled in order to reach a wide variety of users.

Finally, Northrop Grumman IT will contribute to the Enforcement Case Management System (Enforce) project by identifying wireless geospatial requirements and implementing proper solutions. The Enforce and Enforcement Integrated Database systems handle arrests related to illegal border crossings. Northrop Grumman IT will add geospatial intelligence to the Enforce system by providing a mapping interface, geospatial analysis capabilities and wireless functionality.

With 2003 revenue of $26.2 billion, Northrop Grumman ranked No. 2 on Washington Technology's 2004 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue.