keywords: aircraft missiles airliner reuters corp
text: US Awards Airliner Antimissile Contracts  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp. &lt;A HREF="http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=NOC.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"&gt;NOC.N&lt;/A&gt; and  BAE Systems PLC &lt;A HREF="http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=BA.L target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"&gt;BA.L&lt;/A&gt; were tapped by the Bush administration  on Wednesday to develop competing systems to protect U.S.  commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles, a potential  multibillion-dollar market.