Northrop Grumman Corp. and its partners said Monday it has opened a “one-stop shop” for mechanical engineering and innovation solutions, the Huntsville System & Mechanical Engineering Center of Excellence (HSMECOE), in Hunstville, Ala., to facilitate the development and delivery of high-technology, platform-based systems to the military.
“This center will bring together the best of industry and academia to solve technical issues facing the Army and defense acquisition community, specifically regarding the integration of command, control and communications and other systems into warfighter platforms,” said Kelley G. Zelickson, vice president and general manager of the tactical systems business for Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems sector.
According to Zelickson, those technical issues are weight, space, power, ergonomics, crew and operator protection, technology insertion, cost and schedule.
The Army is looking to lighten and shrink platforms while increasing their power for use with brigade combat teams for rapid deployment.
Charter members for the project include the University of Alabama at Huntsville; Alabama A&M University; University of Texas at Austin; L-3 Communications, New York, N.Y.; Azbell Electronics, Waco, Texas; Harris Corp, Melbourne, Fla; ALICO Systems, Torrance, Calif; Gichner Shelter Systems, Dallastown, Pa.; Armor Holdings, Jacksonville, Fla; DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J.; Spraycool ISR, Liberty Lake, Wash.; and Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Reston, Va.
U.S. Army members include Tobyhanna Army Depot, Tobyhanna, Pa.; Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications Tactical (C3T), Fort Monmouth, N.J.; Program Manager, Tactical Operations Center (TOC), Huntsville, Ala.; and Program Manager, Mounted Battle Command on the Move, Fort Monmouth.