Northrop Grumman

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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: [NOC]) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor in the world , the world's largest radar maker (with over 850 ground-based radar installations), and the number-one builder of naval vessels. As of 2004, it had 125,000+ employees working at hundreds of sites in the U.S. and abroad, and an annual revenue of US$30.7 billion. Northrop Grumman ranks #58 on the 2005 Fortune 500 list of U.S. industrial companies.

Products

Some of the most expensive vehicles in the world, such as this B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, are made by Northrop Grumman and purchased by the United States government.

The best known products of Northrop Grumman are the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle and the F-14 Tomcat carrier-based strike fighter.

Naval products

Aerospace products

A BQM-74 Chukar unmanned aerial drone launches from a U.S. Navy vessel

Separate sectors, such as Integrated Systems, produce aircraft for the U.S. and other nations. The B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the E-8c surveillance aircraft, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer are used by the U.S. Air Force. The Navy uses Northrop Grumman-built vehicles such as the BQM-74 Chukar, C-2 Greyhound, E-2C Hawkeye, and the EA-6B Prowler. Many aircraft, such as the F-5 Tiger, T-38 Talon, E-2C Hawkeye, and the F/A-18 Hornet, are sold to other nations. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems produces and maintains AWACS aerial surveillance systems for the U.S. and Great Britain. A UK-based subsidiary, Park Air Systems, makes navigation, traffic control, and communications equipment for aircraft in the UK.

The Space Technology sector builds NASA satellites, propulsion systems, and mission payloads, as well as various Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") defensive laser systems. Rocket launch systems are produced by the Mission Systems sector.

Northrop Grumman intends to bid for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation strategic bomber project. Though it has not built a large manned aircraft since wrapping up B-2 Spirit production in the 1990s, the company has "been working hard to turn that perception around, with the skills and capabilities that back it up.""[Northrop Grumman Hopes for Big Role in DoD Bomber Plan]." Christie, R. The Wall Street Journal. July 10, 2006.

Other products

Services

Many smaller nations and individual states in the U.S. have contracted Northrop Grumman for various large-scale projects. In 2005, for instance, the company won a $2 billion contract with Virginia to overhaul most of the state's IT operations. And later that year, Great Britain paid for a $1.2 billion contract with the company to provide maintenance of many aspects of the country's defensive radar.

Northop Grumman also performs various foreign functions in the War on Drugs. The company sends planes to spray herbicides on suspected cocaine fields in Colombia and opium poppy fields in Afghanistan.

History

A merger between Northop Grumman and competitor Lockheed Martin was not approved by the U.S. government in 1998, slowing the consolidation of the defense industry. But in 1999, the company acquired Teledyne Ryan, which developed surveillance systems and unmanned aircraft. It also acquired the California Microwave, Inc., and Data Procurement Corporation, in the same year. Other entities acquired included Inter-National Research Institute Inc. (1998), Federal Data Corporation (2000), Navia Aviation As (2000), Comptek Research, Inc. (2000), and Sterling Software, Inc. (2000).

In 2001 the company acquired Litton Industries, a shipbuilder and provider of defense electronics systems to the U.S. Navy. During the acquisition process, a new Delaware holding company, NNG, Inc., was formed. It merged with Northrop Grumman through a one-for-one common shares exchange in April 2001. Both Northrop Grumman and Litton became subsidiaries of the new holding company. The original Northrop Grumman Corporation then changed its name to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation; the holding company, NNG, Inc., changed its name to Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Later that year, Newport News Shipbuilding (one of only two producers of nuclear submarines) was added to the company. And in 2002, Northop Grumman acquired the majority of TRW,with their soul interest in their space systems and laser systems manufacturing. The Aeronautical devision was sold onto Goodrich and the automotive section being spun-off and remaining as TRW. There have been many other smaller acquisitions throughout the same period.

Northrop Grumman and Boeing have also recently collaborated on a design concept for NASA's upcoming Crew Exploration Vehicle. Northrop Grumman announced formation of a new business unit (sector), effective January 1, 2006 called Technical Services.

Accolades

Controversy

Northrop Grumman produces many products used in modern warfare.

Government influence

Many members of Congress and executive officials have pushed heavily for purchasing items like Stealth Bombers and a national SDI system, purchases that would signify a windfall for Northrop Grumman if approved. Senators Trent Lott, John Warner, and Ted Stevens each received over $10,000 from the company. Several former officials, consultants, or primary shareholders of Northrop Grumman have held high posts in the Bush administration, including Paul Wolfowitz, I. Lewis Libby, Richard B. Myers, Dov Zakheim, and Sean O'Keefe. One of the company's vice presidents, William O. Studeman, was the deputy director of the CIA in the 1990s. One of the company's largest subsidiaries, Vinnell Corporation, was previously owned by James A. Baker III and Frank Carlucci, former Secretaries of State under successive Republican administrations.. Many commentators point to Northrop Grumman as a primary example of a player in the military-industrial complex. By contracting military services to private contractors such as Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Government is seen as avoiding responsibility for its actions.

Scandals

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