According to a contract announcement yesterday by the Department of Defense (DOD), Smiths Aerospace in Grand Rapids will be contributing work to Northrop Grumman Corp's work on the X-47B Joint Unnamed Combat Air Systems Program. The X-47B project, being developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force, and the Navy, would deploy a networked system of "high performance, weaponized unmanned air vehicles" to provide surveillance, strike military targets, and engage in precision strikes. The deployment of the X-47B project would likely raise new questions about the use of "drones" to intervene in other countries without formerly declaring war.
Smiths Aerospace is frequently contracted by the Department of Defense to produce components for weapons systems. Details of some of its past contracts were compiled in the Media Mouse report "Aiming to Please: A Look at Military Contracts Awarded to Grand
Rapids Area Companies."
