The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) a $470 million contract to build an additional Arleigh Burke (DDG 51)-class Aegis guided missile destroyer.

The destroyer is the fourth of four Aegis destroyers awarded to the company's Ship Systems sector in September 2002, as part of a multiyear procurement plan in which the Navy awarded multiple ships under a single contract.

"The Aegis destroyer program has been one of the most successful programs in our company's history," said Philip A. Dur, president, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. "Our strong management team continues to offer unmatched quality to the Navy and unmatched value to the American people. We are very pleased that our customer recognizes our supremacy in the shipbuilding industry, and has chosen to award another vital Navy asset into our care."

This contract releases the funding for DDG 110, the 60th ship of the DDG 51 program, and the 28th to be built by Northrop Grumman's Pascagoula shipyard.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems includes primary operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.; and in New Orleans and Tallulah, La., as well as in a network of fleet support offices in the U.S. and Japan. Ship Systems is one of the nation's leading full-service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction and life-cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies.

source: Northrop Grumman

With acknowledgement to ASD Network and Northrop-Grumman.