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Northrop Grumman (NOC) Secures Contract to Aid MQ-4C Triton
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Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC - Free Report) recently secured a contract involving MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft. The award has been provided by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.
Details of the Deal
Valued at $14.1 million, the contract is expected to be completed by November 2024. Per the terms of the deal, Northrop Grumman will provide for the installation of MQ-4C Triton ground segments’ mobile operating base (MOB). The company will also oversee the performance of post installation site acceptance testing.
Under the agreement, NOC will also supply software loads for the MOB. Majority of the work related to this deal will be carried out in McLean, VA. The contract will serve the government of Australia.
Importance of MQ-4C Triton
The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions. It also provides unrivalled maritime domain awareness because of its unique mission sensor suite with 360-degree coverage.
Triton is built to support a wide range of missions, including maritime ISR patrol, signals intelligence, search and rescue and communications relay. Such features make it attractive for the military, thereby resulting in NOC winning multiple orders for the same, like the latest one.
What’s Ahead?
Increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide have prompted nations to strengthen their defense systems manifold. With rapid technological upgrades, UAS has steadily become pivotal in a nation’s defense strategy.
Looking ahead, per a report by the Zion Market Research, the global unmanned aircraft systems market is predicted to witness a CAGR of roughly 7.56% between 2023 and 2030. Such massive growth projections indicate solid opportunities for NOC, which has a handful of autonomous systems in its product portfolio, like MQ-4C Triton, RQ-4 Global Hawk, NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance and MQ-8B and MQ-8C Fire Scout.
Peer Prospects
Considering the solid growth opportunities offered by the global UAS market, other defense primes like RTX Corp. (RTX - Free Report) , BAE Systems PLC (BAESY - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Free Report) should also benefit.
RTX’s Coyote UAS is equipped with an advanced seeker and warhead that can successfully identify and eliminate threat UAVs. It is ideal for improved surveillance imagery, enhanced targeting capability, near real-time damage assessment and reduced threat to manned aircraft. The U.S. Army has selected the Coyote drone for a near-term counter-UAS solution.
RTX boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 9.9% from the 2022 reported figure.
BAE Systems’ PHASA-35, an ultra-lightweight, solar-electric High Altitude Pseudo Satellite UAS, completed its successful flight trial in June 2023. It offers an alternative and flexible approach to conventional systems, such as satellites or conventionally powered aircraft for the provision of persistent and cost-effective imagery and communications.
BAESY boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 14%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 15.7% from the 2022 reported figure.
Lockheed Martin has a vast portfolio of autonomous systems including Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, CDL Systems, Indago 3, MORFIUS, Stalker UAS etc. In March 2023, the company’s unit Sikorsky announced the production of a Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator, an uncrewed aircraft, fully-autonomous hybrid-electric vertical-take-off-and-landing prototype.
LMT boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 6.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 0.9% from the 2022 reported figure.
Price Performance
In the past month, shares of NOC have lost 1.3% compared with the industry’s 2% decline.
Image: Shutterstock
Northrop Grumman (NOC) Secures Contract to Aid MQ-4C Triton
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC - Free Report) recently secured a contract involving MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft. The award has been provided by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.
Details of the Deal
Valued at $14.1 million, the contract is expected to be completed by November 2024. Per the terms of the deal, Northrop Grumman will provide for the installation of MQ-4C Triton ground segments’ mobile operating base (MOB). The company will also oversee the performance of post installation site acceptance testing.
Under the agreement, NOC will also supply software loads for the MOB. Majority of the work related to this deal will be carried out in McLean, VA. The contract will serve the government of Australia.
Importance of MQ-4C Triton
The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions. It also provides unrivalled maritime domain awareness because of its unique mission sensor suite with 360-degree coverage.
Triton is built to support a wide range of missions, including maritime ISR patrol, signals intelligence, search and rescue and communications relay. Such features make it attractive for the military, thereby resulting in NOC winning multiple orders for the same, like the latest one.
What’s Ahead?
Increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide have prompted nations to strengthen their defense systems manifold. With rapid technological upgrades, UAS has steadily become pivotal in a nation’s defense strategy.
Looking ahead, per a report by the Zion Market Research, the global unmanned aircraft systems market is predicted to witness a CAGR of roughly 7.56% between 2023 and 2030. Such massive growth projections indicate solid opportunities for NOC, which has a handful of autonomous systems in its product portfolio, like MQ-4C Triton, RQ-4 Global Hawk, NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance and MQ-8B and MQ-8C Fire Scout.
Peer Prospects
Considering the solid growth opportunities offered by the global UAS market, other defense primes like RTX Corp. (RTX - Free Report) , BAE Systems PLC (BAESY - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Free Report) should also benefit.
RTX’s Coyote UAS is equipped with an advanced seeker and warhead that can successfully identify and eliminate threat UAVs. It is ideal for improved surveillance imagery, enhanced targeting capability, near real-time damage assessment and reduced threat to manned aircraft. The U.S. Army has selected the Coyote drone for a near-term counter-UAS solution.
RTX boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 9.9% from the 2022 reported figure.
BAE Systems’ PHASA-35, an ultra-lightweight, solar-electric High Altitude Pseudo Satellite UAS, completed its successful flight trial in June 2023. It offers an alternative and flexible approach to conventional systems, such as satellites or conventionally powered aircraft for the provision of persistent and cost-effective imagery and communications.
BAESY boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 14%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 15.7% from the 2022 reported figure.
Lockheed Martin has a vast portfolio of autonomous systems including Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, CDL Systems, Indago 3, MORFIUS, Stalker UAS etc. In March 2023, the company’s unit Sikorsky announced the production of a Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator, an uncrewed aircraft, fully-autonomous hybrid-electric vertical-take-off-and-landing prototype.
LMT boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 6.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales implies an improvement of 0.9% from the 2022 reported figure.
Price Performance
In the past month, shares of NOC have lost 1.3% compared with the industry’s 2% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Rank
Northrop Grumman currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.