Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $96 million follow-on contract as one of five major defense contractors on the Missile Defense National Team to continue development, operations and sustainment work.

The Missile Defense National Team, led by Lockheed Martin, is responsible for the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) program for the Missile Defense Agency.

A crucial component of the U.S. missile defense strategy, the C2BMC program connects and integrates all elements of the nation's ballistic missile defense system.

"Since 2002, Northrop Grumman has been an integral part of the team that pulls together the industry's best minds in an environment that leaves company partisanship behind," said Kelley Zelickson, vice president of air and missile defense systems for Northrop Grumman Information Systems.

"It's a successful approach for achieving innovation and affordability in optimizing the most complex system of systems for the protection of our country."

Under the 38-month contract as a teammate of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman will support key integrated product teams and provide engineering expertise to further develop, integrate and test C2BMC, operate and sustain existing globally fielded C2BMC assets, and provide test and exercise support for those systems.