Northrop, Finmeccanica Subsidiary Team to Pursue Marine One Program; Paul Meyer Comments

U.S. Marine Corps photo

Northrop Grumman and a subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica have formed a team to compete for the U.S. Navy‘s program to develop a new Marine One helicopter for transporting the president, Northrop announced Tuesday.

AgustaWestland and Northrop will also pursue the U.S. Air Force‘s Combat Rescue Helicopter program and base both proposals on U.S.-built helicopter similar to the AW101 platform.

Northrop brings experience in systems integration of large aircraft programs, while AgustaWestland has experience in global rotorcraft and vertical lift programs, said Paul Meyer, Northrop’s vice president and general manager of advanced programs and technology.

Large air systems projects Northrop has worked on include the Fire Scout and Global Hawk drones; the E-2D Hawkeye; the B-2 bomber; and the E-8 Joint STARS, used by the Air Force for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.