Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation, headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia, is an American aerospace and defense company that designs and manufactures systems for aeronautics, defense, missions, and space. The company is the 5th largest contractor of the U.S. federal government; it receives over 2% of total spending by the federal government of the United States on contractors.

The company's Aeronautics Systems division (29% of 2024 revenues) develops the B-21 Raider strategic bomber that can drop conventional and thermonuclear weapons (forecasted to be ready for combat in 2029), the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber (which will be replaced by the B-21), fuselage and radar production for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-18 Super Hornet, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control, MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle, and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force. The company's defense systems division (19% of 2024 revenues) designs the modernization of the intercontinental ballistic missile system including the LGM-35 Sentinel, the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, Vinnell training, and the M1156 precision guidance kit. The company's mission systems division (25% of 2024 revenues) creates military radar, sensors, and related products, including C4I radar systems for air defense, Airspace Management radar systems such as AWACS, Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program, night vision goggles, Airport Movement Area Safety System, and battlefield surveillance systems like the Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL). Tactical aircraft sensors include the AN/APG-68 radar, the AN/APG-80 Active electronically scanned array radar, and the AN/APG-83 AESA radar upgrade for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the AN/APG-77 AESA radar for the F-22 Raptor, and the AN/APG-81 AESA radar for the F-35 Lightning II, and the AN/AAQ-37 electro-optical Distributed Aperture System (DAS) for the F-35, and the APQ-164 Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA) radar for the B-1 Lancer. The company's space systems division (27% of 2024 revenues) develops Satcom communications satellites, Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites, the Cygnus uncrewed spacecraft, motors for the NASA Space Launch System, logistics support for the Lunar Gateway, Graphite-Epoxy Motor solid rocket boosters, and satellites for the Norwegian Space Agency.

The company is ranked 110th on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations. In 2024, 87% of the company's revenues came from the federal government of the United States, while 12% was from international sources.

Northrop Grumman and its industry partners have won the Collier Trophy nine times, including for the development and production of the James Webb Space Telescope, a space telescope launched in 2021.

The company was formed in 1994 through the merger of Northrop Corporation and Grumman Aerospace.

Northrop Grumman can trace its lineage back to the beginning of the 20th century when the Grumman Corporation was founded on Long Island, New York. Here, Leroy R. Grumman established the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in December 1929. By 1939, the company has expanded and relocated to Bethpage, New York. Among Grumman's well known naval aviation products was the F-14 Tomcat. During World War II the company built most US Navy aircraft, including the TBF Avenger, F4F Wildcat, and F6F Hellcat. After the war it branched out into making the first aluminum canoes using left-over materials no longer needed for aircraft. Later the firm created a myriad of products such as ballistic missiles, all-weather radars, the Apollo Lunar Module, land and sea-based fighter aircraft and Stealth bombers.

Founded in California in 1939 by Jack Northrop, the Northrop Corporation was reincorporated in Delaware in 1985. Northrop made a series of light-weight fighter aircraft such as the F-5, YF-17, and F-20. However, Northrop was best known for its experimental flying wing aircraft, the XB-35 and YB-49 of the late 1940s and early 1950s. These flying wing aircraft, while unsuccessful, would pave the way for the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, on which Northrop was the prime contractor. During World War II, Northrop made the P-61 Black Widow, the first aircraft designed as a night fighter. After the end of the Cold War, Northrop made a series of acquisitions, buying Grumman Aerospace, Westinghouse and TRW Inc. in addition to a number of other enterprises.

In 2018, Northrop Grumman completed the purchase of Orbital ATK, which was renamed to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. Innovation Systems was integrated into other parts of the business in a reorganization the following year.