The award is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract potentially worth $1 billion over 10 years.

The JNIC is the U.S. Department of Defense's premier missile defense wargaming center, providing a one-of-a-kind environment for military commanders to develop and confirm operational concepts.

The Northrop Grumman-led team will now help the center meet its expanded mission to become a focal point for integration, deployment and operation of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

"Northrop Grumman Corporation is fully committed to helping the agency continue this nationally critical mission of integrating the elements of missile defense into an operational system that can defend our nation if called upon," said Jerry Agee, president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector.

"We are proud of our accomplishments and fully understand the increased responsibility entrusted to us by the MDA to take the center forward in meeting its ballistic missile defense system integration and operational missions."

The modeling and simulation performed at the JNIC provides a cost-effective means to perform end-to-end testing and integration of the BMDS in order to gain confidence in the system's performance and reliability.

"The JNIC will continue as the cornerstone of MDA's efforts in modeling and simulation," said Frank Moore, vice president and general manager of the Missile Defense Division at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.

"As the missile defense mission becomes increasingly more complex over time with additional air, space and sea-based elements added to the evolving system, the role of modeling and simulation will become more important in the future. Northrop Grumman will build on the strong partnerships in place to address issues across the full spectrum of missile defense stakeholders - the developers, the warfighters, and BMDS operations."

Work on the JNIC Research and Development contract will be performed at the center, located at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs where the company currently has 350 employees and 600 subcontractor personnel.

As systems integrator, Northrop Grumman is leading a strong and experienced team that includes all the major U.S. defense companies involved in the BMDS. The team is also comprised of multiple businesses with specialized capabilities.

In addition, Northrop Grumman entered into a mentor-protege agreement with Boecore, a JRDC small-business teammate, to help them become established in the broader government and commercial marketplaces.

"The JNIC is the place where the MDA or the warfighter can go for clear answers to hard questions about missile defense capabilities," said Buz Gibson, vice president and program manager for the JNIC contract at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.

"Think of any 'What if' question and the JNIC can find the answer. Imagine any threat scenario, now and in the future, and the JNIC can quickly and cost-effectively answer key questions through simulations and wargaming. The Northrop Grumman team is positioned to help make the BMDS a reality and integrate missile defense into the nation's broader warfighting capabilities."

Northrop Grumman has been the lead contractor at the JNIC since 1995, successfully supporting the development and application of local and distributed modeling and simulation, wargaming, testing and analysis of national and theater air and missile defense systems.

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