[Satellite TODAY 08-20-10] Northrop Grumman has been selected by the U.S. Army to provide encryption devices that will upgrade communications security of the Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below FBCB2-Blue Force Tracking network, the company announced Aug. 19.
     Under a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a ceiling of $300 million, Northrop Grumman will supply programmable in-line encryption devices for installation in FBCB2-BFT platforms and network operations centers worldwide.
     FBCB2-BFT is a situational awareness and command-and-control system used by U.S. and coalition forces to allow warfighters to share critical information. To date, the Army has deployed more than 85,000 systems around the globe. Northrop’s encryption devices will be fully interoperable with the Army’s Joint Capability Release — the next version of FBCB2 software developed by Northrop Grumman — and is designed to support both the currently and next-generation networks. 
     The award builds off of an $18 million order the Army placed with Northrop Grumman in April. Harris Corp. is acting as Northrop Grumman’s technology partner in the development and manufacture of the encryption unit, which is based on Harris’ KGV-72 solution and will be manufactured at Harris facilities.

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