RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) today announced the appointment of Samuel Abbate as Northrop Grumman's vice president of the Virginia Information Technology Infrastructure Program.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/

In this role, Abbate is responsible for the company's overall program management of the partnership between Northrop Grumman and VITA. This 10-year, $1.9 billion partnership is modernizing the state executive branch's IT infrastructure and providing expertise and resources to support improved delivery of government services.

"Sam is a seasoned executive with more than 27 years of experience in program and enterprise leadership of large-scale IT infrastructure programs," said Tom Shelman, vice president and general manager, Civil Systems Division for Northrop Grumman Information Systems sector. "His considerable technical and program management expertise will contribute to the successful completion of a modern and robust IT infrastructure environment for the Commonwealth."

"The VITA restructuring, the addition of a new Northrop Grumman program manager and reorganizing into customer teams will greatly increase our ability to serve our agency customers," said George Coulter, chief information officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia. "Sam Abbate's knowledge and experience bring great value to the program, and I am pleased he will be on board to assist."

Coulter said Abbate's appointment is designed to complement the VITA reorganization, announced yesterday, and that Northrop Grumman will participate in customer service teams with VITA staff.

Most recently, Abbate was vice president and program manager for the company's New York City Wireless Network program, a citywide mobile wireless network for public safety personnel and other city agencies. In that role, he led the successful delivery of the largest, private municipal wireless broadband infrastructure network in the country.

Previously, Abbate served as director and deputy integrated product team leader for electronic support and attack systems within Northrop Grumman. He has also served in a variety of management positions including program director for the Increased Capability III program (ICAP-III), where he was responsible for the development and successful fleet deployment of the next generation electronic warfare system for the EA-6B electronic attack tactical aircraft.

Abbate earned a bachelor's degree from the New York Institute of Technology, N.Y., and a master's degree from Long Island University, N.Y.

VITA is the Commonwealth's consolidated technology provider responsible for infrastructure, governance and oversight of major IT projects, security, enterprise solutions, and procurement of technology-related goods and services on behalf of state and local governments. www.vita.virginia.gov

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. www.ngc.com

CONTACT:  Christy Whitman
          Northrop Grumman Corporation 
          (571) 213-5302
          christine.whitman@ngc.com

          Marcella Williamson
          VITA
          (804) 416-6002
          marcella.williamson@vita.virginia.gov