Asian Aerospace 2000 -- A $93.7 million contract awarded just before Asian Aerospace commissions Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures sector to proceed with engineering, manufacturing and development of the US Navy VTUAV (vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle). The winning Northrop Grumman Model 379 is, in fact, an unmanned version of the Schweizer 330SP civil helicopter, itself a development of the venerable Hughes 300. Three have been ordered initially, from a consortium also including Lockheed Martin Federal Systems, L-3 Communications, Tamam-Israel Aircraft Industries and Sierra Nevada Corp. VTUAV will carry a 200-pound surveillance payload over a 110 nmi radius and loiter for three hours at 20,000 feet.