Response was cordial and timely, with much more de

Response was cordial and timely, with much more depth than I expected.  Some highlights:

"...

...however I’ll give you a bit more on how I see the strategy playing out.  With solutions such as the DGU, the greater goal for a company like NOC is twofold: develop a product with multiple-vertical applicability (either traditional defense or industrials/manufacturing come to mind) that will address resource constraints through on-site efficiency creation while simultaneously bringing small business partners to the table in order to contribute to prime contractors’ federal set aside requirements (just over 24% of business).  Within NOC’s core defense market (most notably the Army, which is suffering the tightest budget constraints and is deployed in-theater) this would represent an opportunity to increase market footprint.

...In terms of timeframe, my understanding is that the companies hope to have a prototype developed by the end of 2014…  There has been minimal disclosure in terms of cost, which aligns with general principles held by the major defense contractors.  My contacts at NOC doubtfully would have that information even if they were able to share it with me.

...In terms of Cirque Energy, I have minimal familiarity with the company outside their dealings with NOC…  In terms of their strategic benefit, I know Cirque had previously been considered as a sub-contractor for NOC on the DGU development program, and I certainly believe working with a company such as NOC will aid in their development of the solution, given NOC’s vast engineering capabilities, as well as giving a company that appears to have a lot of commercial-side management experience access to the public sector.

…As you mentioned, Cirque is located in Detroit and, between that and the company’s size (based off market cap), my assessment is that this gives NOC a two-pronged attack in terms of realizing its SMB set aside requirements: traditional and HUB-Zone.  The latter increases the attractiveness of working with Cirque beyond the former, as it helps to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  I think this is a key reason the companies repositioned this as a “partnership” as opposed to a contractor/sub relationship.
…"