Northrup Grumman to receive $71 million to produce six unmanned helicopters

SAN DIEGO - Northrup Grumman will receive more than $71 million from the U.S. Navy to produce six additional unmanned helicopters, the San Diego-based company announced today.

The new contract is for next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopters, which have better range, endurance and payload capacity over the currently used unmanned helicopters, according to the defense contractor.

With the new contract, Northrup Grumman is building a total of 14 Fire Scouts for the U.S. Navy, with plans to deploy the unmanned helicopters in 2014.

''This contract provides significant momentum for the work N...