LONDON, January 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation has appointed Graham Wright and Kathy Salyan to key leadership roles in the UK aimed at extending the company's intelligence-related business and strengthening the UK footprint for technologies and capabilities that are vitally important for national security.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110104/LA23477-a) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110104/LA23477-b)

Wright and Salyan will focus on identifying new business opportunities and developing strategies to grow the UK business base for advanced cyber, integrated intelligence, intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), geographic intelligence, space and environmental solutions and associated enabling technologies.

Photos accompanying this release are available at: http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery

"The recently announced National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review have highlighted the importance of cyber security to the UK. Graham and Kathy bring many years of valuable experience to support Northrop Grumman's expansion in this key area," said Sir Nigel Essenhigh, chairman of Northrop Grumman UK and chief executive of Northrop Grumman Information Systems Europe. "These new positions build on the company's strategies in the UK cyber and intelligence arenas and lay the groundwork for our continued growth in these critical markets."

Wright joins Northrop Grumman from his role as Deputy Director, Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, in the UK's Cabinet Office. He brings nearly 30-years of experience gained through a variety of senior positions in the Ministry of Defence and government including his service in the Royal Air Force as a Jaguar pilot, directing sensitive operations at the Directorate of Targeting and Information Operations (DTIO) and his high profile tour as the UK Chief of the Defence Staff's Liaison Officer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Wright held the rank of Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force before joining Northrop Grumman. He was appointed CBE in the 2007 New Years Honours list.

Salyan has close to 25-years of programme management and business development experience with various defence contractors including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Over the past seven years, Salyan has focused on business development activities related to the intelligence and cyber mission area.

In October 2010, Northrop Grumman opened at its Fareham facility the first large scale, federated cyber security test range to be commercially available in the UK. The cyber test range is used for emulating large, complex networks and for conducting cyber experiments and assessments of infrastructure survivability and assurance to evaluate their resilience to cyber-attacks. The UK cyber range is designed to be federated with other cyber ranges anywhere in the world to create the capability for large-scale experiments to be carried out beyond the scope of a single facility.

Northrop Grumman is an industry leader in all aspects of computer network operations and cyber security and is at the forefront of the challenge to find innovative solutions that can effectively defend networks and offer protection across the entire cyber domain. For more information about Northrop Grumman's capabilities in cyber security, go to http://www.northropgrumman.com/cybersecurity.

Northrop Grumman has a strong well-established presence in the UK and operates from primary locations in London, Fareham, Chester, Coventry, Hendon, New Malden, Peterborough, RAF Waddington and Solihull.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

Note to Editors:

Pictures accompanying this release are available through the PA Photowire. They can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.