The Navigation Systems Subsidiaries of Northrop Grumman, the Northrop Grumman LITEF and Northrop Grumman Italia have completed 50 successful years of providing navigation products by combining the worldwide reach of the Northrop Grumman and providing the flexibility of the local presence.
Both the Italy-based subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Italia located in Pomezia and the Germany-based subsidiary, Northrop Grumman LITEF located in Freiburg were established in 1961. Since their inception, they have supported the repair, manufacturing and assembly of the LN-3 Inertial Navigation System for the F-104 Starfighter aircraft and have also been providing inertial measurement units and navigation systems based on fiber-optic technology. During the 70s, the two subsidiaries worked in tandem to design and produce the backup flight control sensor and navigation system, the Tornado Secondary AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference System). In the early 90’s, Northrop Grumman LITEF and Northrop Grumman Italia were chosen by the Eurofighter program to provide the navigation system, airborne computers and inertial measurement unit for the aircraft. A fiber-optic land navigation system for applications in the army was jointly launched by the two companies in 1993. Since then the two companies have developed micro-electro-mechanical system gyros and the navigation data and flight reference system, the LISA-4000 AHRS.
The Northrop Grumman LITEF and Northrop Grumman Italia still continue to manufacture and design precision equipment based on advanced laser gyro and fiber optic technology.