18:23 GMT, March 10, 2010 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. | Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has won a contract to supply machinery automation systems for two mine countermeasures vessels being sold by the U.K. Ministry of Defence to the Lithuanian Navy, considerably enhancing their mine countermeasures capability in the most cost-effective manner.

The contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine unit by Thales U.K., prime contractor for the refit and upgrade of the two ships prior to handover to the Lithuanian government. Each of the two ships will be fitted with Sperry Marine's commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) machinery automation system, which will provide an integrated and flexible network for monitoring and controlling the ships' propulsion engines and auxiliary systems. Sperry Marine will also provide supervision of installation, commissioning, testing and training for the ships' crews.
"The open-architecture COTS system will provide a rugged and robust network for machinery automation," said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of International Naval Systems at Northrop Grumman's Naval and Marine Systems Division. "It is based on Sperry Marine's extensive experience in designing, developing, installing and supporting integrated ship control and monitoring systems."

Northrop Grumman is also the supplier of the Platform Management System for the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers and Astute submarine programs, and has deployed over 750 shipboard monitoring, alarm and control systems for commercial and naval vessels worldwide.

The two Hunt-class ships, formerly HMS Cottesmore and HMS Dulverton, were originally built in the 1980s for minesweeping and minehunting operations. Later they had their mine countermeasures systems removed and were used as Northern Ireland patrol ships before being decommissioned in 2005. Their hulls were constructed with glass-reinforced plastic, presenting a very low magnetic signature for mine countermeasures operations.