Northrop Grumman Corp., based in Los Angeles, has been awarded a $142 million follow-on contract from the US Missile Defense Agency to supply systems, engineering, planning and logistics support for the Airborne Laser boost phase missile defense program. The high-energy, oxygen-iodine laser and beam control system -- installed in a Boeing 747 aircraft -- can detect, track and destroy ballistic missiles during boost phase. Northrop Grumman Information Technology, which is based in McLean, Va., will provide the support for the Airborne Laser Program Office at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico through 2009.

Northrop Grumman also has received a follow-on contract from the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Under the two-year, $46.9 million award, the company's Information Technology unit will provide equipment, including the mid-IR advanced chemical laser, as well as engineering and technical support for the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The contract has three one-year options.