Northrop Grumman Corp.'s unit in Bethpage has teamed up with Manhattan-based L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. to compete against other major aerospace and defense companies in building a new surveillance and reconnaissance plane for the Navy under a contract that could be worth more than $1 billion, the two companies said this week.

The competition is to build a replacement for the Navy's EP-3E aircraft. Variants of the EP-3E have been in Navy service since 1969.

Jim Hart, a Northrop Grumman spokesman, said that the company's efforts on the program will be located in Bethpage. Northrop Grumman has about 2,000 employees on Long Island, the majority in Bethpage.

L-3, a defense-electronics contractor, would be a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman if the two companies are successful in winning a contract to build the new plane.

The plane captured headlines around the world on April 1, 2001, when an EP-3E collided in midair with a Chinese fighter jet about 70 miles off the Chinese island of Hainan. The American crew of 24 were detained and released 11 days later. The midair collision killed the pilot of the Chinese jet and triggered a brief crises in U.S.-Chinese relations.

Northrop Grumman said in an announcement Monday that the proposal is submitted along with L-3 was in response to a Navy request that solicited bids to develop a shore-based, manned aircraft that provides surveillance and reconnaissance.

The Navy has not said how many such planes it is seeking. The service has about 16 EP-3E aircraft.

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