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Northrop (NOC) Wins $76M Deal to Upgrade Global Hawk Program

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Northrop Grumman Corp.’s (NOC - Free Report) business unit, Northrop Grumman Systems, recently secured a $75.5-million contract for the Global Hawk RQ-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The deal has been awarded by the Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, TX.

Per the deal terms, Northrop’s offerings will include multi-country aircrew and maintenance training consisting of program management support, pilot training, sensor operator training, and airframe and ground maintenance training. The contract will support the U.S. government and Air Force Security Assistance Training international partners’ mission objectives.

Global Hawk’s Significance

Northrop’s Global Hawk is an unmanned surveillance aircraft, which provides military field commanders with high-resolution, near-real-time imagery of large geographic areas. Powered by a Rolls-Royce (RYCEY - Free Report) AE 3007 turbofan engine, these jets can fly for as long as 32 hours on one load of fuel.

Apart from intelligence collection, a portion of the Global Hawk fleet helps air and ground users with communications relay support. Its intelligence-gathering capabilities allow civil authorities to respond to natural disasters, conduct search-and-rescue operations, and gather weather and atmospheric data to help forecasters predict the paths of storms.

Northrop’s Growth Prospects

Increasing geopolitical conflicts across borders worldwide have prompted nations to enhance their surveillance manifold. Notably, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like the Global Hawk play a vital role in this surveillance, since they offer services with minimum human casualties. Hence, demand for unmanned surveillance jets has been on the rise.

This approach of governments toward expanding their surveillance aircraft stocks has, in turn, bolstered the need for integration of the surveillance systems with the latest Satellite Communication (SATCOM) network. The latest contract win by Northrop is a bright example of that.

To this end, it is imperative to mention that the global UAV market, per a Markets and Markets report, is projected to expand at a CAGR of 15.5% to reach $45.8 billion by 2025 from 2019, with increasing procurement of military UAVs by defense forces worldwide being one of the primary growth catalysts. Such impressive growth projections should usher in more such contract wins for Northrop, as it is one of the major UAV manufacturers.

Other Defense Players Also Poised to Benefit

Considering the growing demand for military surveillance across the globe, it is quite obvious that other major manufacturers of surveillance jets like Boeing (BA - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) will also benefit.

Notably, Boeing’s P-8 is truly a multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft, which excels at anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and search and rescue.

Meanwhile, Lockheed’s U-2 Dragon Lady has been supporting the U.S. Air Force’s mission of superior surveillance for 65 years.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Northrop Grumman currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of this defense giant have witnessed 21.7% growth in the year-to-date period against the industry’s decline of 12.1%.

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