The Navy late yesterday awarded Northrop Grumman a $635 million contract to develop critical technologies for a pilotless jet designed to operate on aircraft carriers, giving the California-based defense contractor a leg up in a high-stakes competition with rival Boeing to lead the Unmanned Combat Aircraft Systems-Navy program, a potentially multibillion-dollar effort. The cost-plus-incentive-fee award, to Northrop's Integrated Systems-Western Region, San Diego, CA, division is for the Unmanned Combat Air System CV Demonstration Program (UCAS-D). "The purpose of the UCAS-D...
