Northrop Grumman

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Northrop Grumman made a surprise announcement last week that Chairman and CEO Wes Bush will step down from the CEO role next year and be succeeded by Kathy Warden, the company’s current president and chief operating officer, who has been groomed to take over leadership of the company. Prior to becoming […]

Northrop Grumman made a surprise announcement Thursday evening that Chairman and CEO Wes Bush will step down from the CEO role next year and be succeeded by Kathy Warden, the company’s current president and chief operating officer, who has been groomed to take over leadership of the company. Prior to becoming president and COO on […]

As House and Senate lawmakers this week debate whether to tighten congressional scrutiny of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons production contract, the agency is pressing ahead on all cylinders with the deal, which was extended for two years just this spring. The Senate’s 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in June, mandates that […]

The U.S. Air Force, which has been developing the B-21 Raider for almost three years, is on track to conduct a critical design review by year’s end, a service official said June 25. “We are on our way to critical design review,” said Randy Walden, director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which oversees the bomber […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday evening approved the acquisition by Northrop Grumman [NOC] of Orbital ATK [OA] contingent on Northrop Grumman agreeing to operate its new solid rocket motor (SRM) business independently to avoid anticompetitive behavior. Northrop Grumman on Wednesday afternoon after the close of stock markets on the […]

Marc Selinger  Defense Daily The U.S. Air Force may ask Congress to move around previously approved funds for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) because the program is running ahead of schedule, according to service officials. GBSD “is on schedule. In fact, it’s actually a little ahead of schedule and we may be coming to […]

By Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Northrop Grumman on Wednesday opened its fiscal 2018 with solid results, driven by improved operating performance, lower taxes, and a pension benefit, and the company upgraded its earnings outlook for the year. Net income in the quarter was up 14 percent to $739 million, or $4.21 a share, from $650 […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily Software deliveries have begun for the U.S. Air Force’s future B-21 Raider bomber, a service official said late April 18. “We’ve delivered the first set of software for the platform, and we’re going through that,” said Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy in the Air Force acquisition office. “And we’re getting set up […]

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, whose duties include overseeing big-ticket acquisition programs, attended a recent “deep dive” briefing on the Air Force’s B-21 Raider to better familiarize himself with the bomber development effort, a service official said April 9. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said that he and prime contractor Northrop Grumman [NOC] also took part in the […]

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, said there have been some early production “hiccups” with the B-21, notably with its engines. Wittman told reporters following a speech at the McAleese/Credit Suisse defense conference that there have been challenges with airflow through the B-21 engines. “This […]

In its last year on the job, National Security Technologies (NSTec) was praised for smooth handling of capital projects at the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, including its work to solidify designs for a new underground, non-explosive weapons-testing facility. National Security Technologies in 2017 wrapped up its management of the Nevada National Security Site for […]

In its last year on the job, National Security Technologies (NSTec) was praised for smooth handling of capital projects at the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, including its work to solidify designs for a new underground, non-explosive weapons-testing facility. National Security Technologies in 2017 wrapped up its management of the Nevada National Security Site for […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration dinged Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) for delays on a nuclear-bomb life-extension program in fiscal 2017 in a generally positive performance evaluation report published Thursday. Overall, CNS earned about $36 million in fees for managing the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency’s Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Tennessee and Pantex Plant in […]

Navarro Research and Engineering earned more than 97 percent of its total potential fiscal 2017 award fee from the Department of Energy Nevada Environmental Program Services (EPS) contract. Navarro garnered $835,975 of a potential $857,037 for the period from Oct. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017, for work at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). […]

The deadline to tender bids to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory came and went yesterday without any prospective offerors besides major universities identifying themselves. Known to be in the hunt are the University of California, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. The publicly funded universities cannot hide their interest in the contract, […]

Boeing says its Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) effort completed its first major review with the Air Force in November. The system requirements review was designed to ensure that Boeing fully understands the system’s requirements. In August, Boeing and Northrop Grumman both received three-year contracts to conduct technology maturation and risk reduction for the new, […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Orbital ATK’s [OA] stockholders on Wednesday voted in favor of their company’s being acquired by Northrop Grumman [NOC], keeping the pending deal on track for a close in the first half of 2018. The nearly $8 billion acquisition still must receive regulatory approvals. Orbital ATK said that holders of more than 99 percent […]

Orbital ATK’s [OA] stockholders on Wednesday voted in favor of their company’s being acquired by Northrop Grumman [NOC], keeping the pending deal on track for a close in the first half of 2018. The nearly $8 billion acquisition still must receive regulatory approvals. Orbital ATK said that holders of more than 99 percent of the company’s common […]

Pentagon nuclear arsenal modernization prime Northrop Grumman exceeded expectations with its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, while fellow nuke prime Lockheed Martin underperformed the Wall Street consensus. Northrop posted a 10-percent earnings increase over the year-ago quarter on a 6-percent rise in quarterly revenue. Earnings per share of $3.68 beat the Wall Street consensus of $2.90, as […]

Pentagon nuclear arsenal modernization prime Northrop Grumman exceeded expectations with its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, posting a 10-percent earnings increase over the year-ago quarter on a 6-percent rise in quarterly revenue. Earnings per share of $3.68 beat the Wall Street consensus of $2.90, as reported by the website MarketWatch, while revenue in the quarter ended Sept. […]

Contracting giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, major players in the Pentagon’s nuclear modernization program, are set to report earnings this week. Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings Tuesday, is one of two contractors (with Raytheon) developing technology for a next-generation air-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missile known as the Long-Range Standoff weapon. Lockheed’s […]

The U.S. Air Force has picked Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins to begin designing a replacement for the aging Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS), which allows command-and-control aircraft to launch land-based, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Rockwell Collins have been awarded three-year contracts valued at $80.8 million and $76.3 million, respectively, for the ALCS […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Northrop Grumman late Tuesday afternoon announced a number of forthcoming leadership changes, including the elevation of Kathy Warden to the position of president. Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s chairman and CEO, is also president. Warden, who is currently in charge of the company’s Mission Systems Sector, will become president and chief operating […]

Northrop Grumman late Tuesday afternoon announced a number of forthcoming leadership changes, including the elevation of Kathy Warden to the position of president. Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s chairman and CEO, is also president. Warden, who is currently in charge of the company’s Mission Systems Sector, will become president and chief operating officer (COO) of the […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Air Force intends to conduct a “deep dive” on the B-2 Spirit to determine how that bomber program’s strengths and weaknesses could guide the development of the B-21 Raider, according to a service official. The deep dive is designed to prevent the B-21 from experiencing the kind of cost and […]

Northrop Grumman’s proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of Orbital ATK will drive improved affordability for its customers, strengthen its competitiveness in a number of areas such as space and missile defense systems, and help spur innovation, Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s chairman, president, and CEO, said Monday on an investor call. Bush said that the operating environment in space […]

Northrop Grumman’s proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of Orbital ATK will drive improved affordability for its customers, strengthen its competitiveness in a number of areas such as space and missile defense systems, and help spur innovation, Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s chairman, president, and CEO, said Monday on an investor call. Bush said that the operating environment in space […]

Lockheed Martin, which recently lost a competition to mature designs for the U.S. Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), announced Aug. 30 that it has chosen not to challenge the contracts awarded to two rivals. “After receiving a debrief and reviewing information provided, Lockheed Martin has accepted the Air Force’s decision on the Ground […]

The Pentagon should not have rushed to hand out more than $1 billion in contracts to modernize U.S. nuclear missiles before the Donald Trump administration completes the Nuclear Posture Review it started in January, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said Sunday. “We should not be doubling down on these legacy nuclear […]

Lockheed Martin, which recently lost a competition to mature designs for the U.S. Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), announced Aug. 30 that it has chosen not to challenge the contracts awarded to two rivals. “After receiving a debrief and reviewing information provided, Lockheed Martin has accepted the Air Force’s decision on the Ground Based […]