Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) has been awarded a $422 million contract from Lockheed Martin (LMT) to produce sensor payloads on the fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, known as GEO-5 and GEO-6.

The U.S. Air Force's SBIRS provides the nation with continuous early warning of ballistic missile launches and other tactical intelligence.

"Northrop Grumman looks forward to joining our partner and prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, to produce the GEO-5/6 IR payloads," said Anne Ostroff, vice president of the Military/Civil Space and Ground business area, Northrop Grumman.

"We are committed to reducing cost and payload development cycle times, while still providing exceptional data to our military and intelligence stake holders."

The SBIRS program delivers timely, reliable and accurate missile warning and infrared surveillance information to the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, combatant commanders, the intelligence community and other key decision makers.

The system enhances global missile launch detection capability, supports the nation's ballistic missile defense system, expands the country's technical intelligence gathering capacity and bolsters situational awareness for warfighters on the battlefield.