ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Feb. 9, 2012. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), together with DRS Technologies, announced the delivery of the first Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS) to the U.S. Army.

A mobile, rapidly deployable and reconfigurable general purpose Automatic Test System suite, NGATS provides unit-level through depot-level maintenance testing and screening of complex electronic and electro-optical weapon systems. The system will initially test the electronics and weapon systems in heavy combat vehicles such as the Abrams/Bradley and will be used for Stryker depot efforts starting in 2012. In follow-on phases, NGATS will be capable of supporting the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, Kiowa Warrior helicopters and missile launchers, as well as a variety of other existing and future weapon systems.

Under the terms of a low rate initial production (LRIP) contract, the Northrop Grumman-led team will deliver a total of eight LRIP configuration NGATS plus spares in 2012.

NGATS is the U.S. Army's replacement for its earlier generation Integrated Family of Test Equipment (IFTE) and the Direct Support Electrical System Test Set (DSESTS) test systems. It is backwards compatible with legacy IFTE versions. Northrop Grumman received the NGATS contract to procure LRIP units in 2010 from the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Combat Support & Combat Service Support and in late 2011 supported Limited User Testing administered by the Army Test and Evaluation Command and conducted at Fort Stewart, Ga.