Politics & Government
Navy Adds $15M to Contract for San Diego-Produced Drones
The same manufacturer behind an unmanned vehicle being used at North Island receives a contract change to upgrade software on the Triton model.
An add-on to a Navy contract calls for $15.3 million for Northrop Grumman to upgrade software on drones being produced in the region, according to the San Diego Business Journal.
About 25 percent of the software work on the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, changing versions of Windows from XP to Windows 7, will be performed in San Diego, the report said, quoting from a Defense Department announcement. The project should last a year.
The aerospace company's Rancho Bernardo site is its “center of excellence for unmanned systems,” according to the report.
Naval Air Systems Command of Patuxent River, Md., modified the Navy's contract with the company.
Three weeks ago Naval Air Station North Island celebrated the launch of a new squadron, Helicopter Maritime Squadron 35, which will use a different type of unmanned vehicle, also produced by Northrop Grumman in San Diego.
The squadron will employ eight MH-60R helicopters and 10 MQ-8B remotely-operated vehicles.
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