Northrop Grumman has prevailed over Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the competition to develop the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) system for the U.S. Air Force's E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), the Defense Department announced Sept. 10.

Northrop Grumman said it expects the BMC2 development effort to be worth more than $300 million, including an initial increment of at least $50 million.

As early as the week of Sept. 13, the Air Force is expected to tell the three competing teams why they won or lost. The competitive process lasted 15 months.

The BMC2 has been billed as the brains of the E-10A, a replacement for the E-8C Joint STARS aircraft that is designed to provide high-resolution radar imagery of ground targets and track cruise missiles in flight.

Northrop Grumman said the BMC2 system will process information for the E-10A radar, perform command and control functions critical to the aircraft's mission, and access and correlate sensor data from other sources to create a common picture of the battlespace.

Jobs assigned

Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector leads the winning team, which also includes Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems, Information Technology and Mission Systems sectors. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and Harris Government Systems will also play key roles.

Several other key development jobs for the E-10A had already been assigned, including construction of the 767-400ER test bed aircraft, which is a Boeing responsibility, and development of the radar, which will be performed by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.

- Marc Selinger (marc_selinger@AviationNow.com)