Northrop Grumman and Digital Fountain Agree to Provide Advanced Communications Technology

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 20, 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has entered into a strategic alliance agreement with Digital Fountain Inc. to offer advanced communications technology to a wide range of U.S. and allied government customers.

Northrop Grumman provides world-class systems integration capabilities that can enable a variety of users to exchange real-time information on tactical, ad-hoc networks. It specializes in offering new networking concepts to address its customers’ technology gaps. These capabilities will be enhanced by Digital Fountain’s expertise in fundamental technology and software components that dramatically improve the quality and performance of communications in the most challenging network conditions.

“Northrop Grumman believes its longstanding commitment to seek innovation in nontraditional relationships with companies and incorporate state-of-the-art commercial technology in our products adds even more value for our customers,” said Paul K. Meyer, sector vice president, Advanced Capabilities Development, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. “Integrating Digital Fountain’s capabilities will allow us to offer very near term network-centric solutions that better meet the digital communications requirements of current and future users.”

Northrop Grumman will incorporate the Digital Fountain technology in systems it develops for government customers or sublicense it to them or other contractors. Government customers covered in the agreement include defense, intelligence, homeland security and other federal agencies, as well as state and local agencies and governments of allied countries.

Digital Fountain’s technology -- used for point-to-point communications and broadcast to multiple users simultaneously of data files and streaming video -- provides more reliable delivery of data, which is especially important as tactical networks become part of the digital global information grid. Network-centric warfare today relies upon a mix of wired and wireless networks to deliver mission-critical information. Commanders and tactical warfighters depend on timely information to make informed battlefield decisions.

However, network conditions within the tactical infosphere can suffer from extreme conditions such as limited bandwidth, high latency (delay time), fading, and interference or jamming. The result is often poor communications performance that impairs the ability to share mission-critical information among tactical operations centers and individual warfighters.

Digital Fountain’s patented DF Raptor(tm) forward error correction (FEC) technology addresses those problems. Adopted as a global standard for the wireless distribution of multimedia content over third-generation (3G) cellular networks, the technology improves the reliability of tactical communications links by protecting the transfer of large files and streaming data from “packet” (data) loss. This improvement in quality guarantees faster delivery of critical data over today’s networks and allows more efficient use of network bandwidth.

Based in Fremont, Calif., Digital Fountain develops and licenses advanced FEC (forward error correction) technology to enhance the quality of communications over data networks. Digital Fountain’s patented DF Raptor(tm) FEC technology improves multimedia streaming quality, ensures timely delivery of data, and enables the creation and development of new communications services. DF Raptor FEC is used today in a variety of enterprise, military, and consumer devices and applications, supporting both wired and wireless telecommunications networks.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 125,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

Contact Information

Jim Hart

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems

Northrop Grumman Corporation

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