The U.S. Navy has selected Northrop Grumman to design and build its new surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

The $1.16 billion development contract for two Navy owned test aircraft was announced late April 22 at the Pentagon. Another development-phase aircraft will be provided to the program, but Northrop Grumman will retain ownership.

The Navy intends to buy UAVs for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft role. Northrop, a Lockheed Martin-General Atomics team and Boeing all were vying for the contract to develop and build a long-endurance maritime surveillance aircraft.

Northrop Grumman’s win seals the company’s relationship as the Navy’s preferred provider of UAVs. It also will boost production for the Global Hawk airframe, which is already being purchased by the U.S. Air Force as a U-2 replacement. The Global Hawk is the baseline used to carry the BAMS sensor.

This is the second major UAV purchase for the Navy in as many years. Last year, Northrop won a competition against Boeing to design and test the suitability of two low-observable Unmanned Combat Air System vehicles operating on and around aircraft carrier decks.

BAMS will be a long-endurance system capable of remaining on station 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 80 percent of the time.