Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a prominent multinational aerospace and defense technology company based in Falls Church, Virginia. Founded in 1939, Northrop Grumman emerged from the merger of Northrop Corporation and Grumman Corporation in 1994. With a workforce of approximately 90,000 employees as of 2023, the company operates in all fifty U.S. states and twenty-five countries worldwide, focusing on a range of military and civilian applications. Its key divisions include aeronautics systems, defense systems, mission systems, and space systems, with significant products such as piloted and autonomous aircraft, weapon systems, and advanced sensors.
The company has a rich history, contributing to major military efforts during World War II and the Cold War, particularly through innovations like the P-61 Black Widow, the first radar-equipped military aircraft. Over the years, Northrop Grumman has expanded through various acquisitions and has become a vital part of the U.S. military-industrial complex, which has faced scrutiny regarding its influence on U.S. foreign policy and military spending. In recent years, Northrop Grumman has seen substantial revenue growth, highlighting its critical role in defense technology and aerospace advancements.
Northrop Grumman
Company information
- Date founded: 1939
- Industry: Aerospace and defense technology
- Corporate headquarters: Falls Church, Virginia
- Type: Public
Overview
Northrop Grumman is a multinational aerospace and defense technology company headquartered in the Washington, DC, suburb of Falls Church, Virginia. The firm adopted its present name in 1994 after Northrop Corporation acquired Grumman Corporation. Northrop Corporation was established in 1939 as Northrop Aircraft, Inc., and Northrop Grumman now identifies this date as its official founding, even though Grumman Corporation first launched operations ten years earlier.
In 2023, Northrop Grumman employed approximately ninety thousand people. It maintains offices in all fifty states and twenty-five other countries in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East. As of 2023, its chief executive officer (CEO) was Kathy J. Warden, who assumed leadership of the company on January 1, 2019.
Northrop Grumman’s major operating divisions include aeronautics systems, defense systems, mission systems, and space systems. Through these segments, the company designs, develops, and produces aerospace and defense equipment for both military and civilian clients. Its key products include both piloted and autonomous aircraft systems, weapon systems, missiles and missile defense systems, surveillance equipment, and advanced sensors with applications in land-based, maritime, aerial, and space environments.
Northrop Grumman earned approximately $36.6 billion in revenue in 2022. The company’s revenues have been following a pronounced upward trend, increasing from $24.7 billion in 2016 to $36.8 billion in 2020 before receding slightly due to the economic pressures created by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s revenue in 2021 was $36.2 billion. Northrop Grumman's shares trade publicly on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
History
John K. Northrop is cited as the founder of Northrop Grumman. Northrop was an American aerospace engineer and aircraft designer who established his career during the early decades of commercial aviation. In 1928, he founded his first venture, Avion Corporation. The following year, Avion Corporation became a subsidiary of the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, now known as The Boeing Company. Northrop broke away from the parent firm in 1932 to create Northrop Corporation in partnership with the Douglas Aircraft Company. The partnership dissolved in 1937, with the Douglas Aircraft Company acquiring Northrop Corporation’s remaining shares. Northrop then dissolved his original corporation before relaunching it in 1939 under the name Northrop Aircraft, Incorporated. The present-day Northrop Grumman firm traces its operational history to this event.
Northrop Aircraft, later known as Northrop Corporation, entered a period of prosperity during World War II (1939–1945) when it developed and manufactured the P-61 Black Widow aircraft used by the United States Army Air Force, the precursor to the United States Air Force (USAF). The warplane holds the distinction of being the first radar-equipped aircraft in military history, as well as the first designed specifically for nighttime operation.
Northrop retired from the company in 1952, but Northrop Corporation continued to make inroads as a major US military contractor during the Cold War era (1945-1991). It forged a market niche as a leading provider of technologically advanced but economical equipment with low lifecycle costs. By the early 1990s, Northrop Corporation had expanded into autonomous aircraft (drones), tactical and strategic missile guidance systems, missile defense systems, and advanced military aircraft, including stealth bombers.
Grumman Corporation was founded in 1929 by aviator and aeronautics engineer Leroy R. Grumman and two business partners. Initially producing specialized floats that enabled naval aircraft to operate as seaplanes, Grumman Corporation emerged as a major supplier of the warplanes transported by US aircraft carriers during World War II. Grumman Corporation won extensive praise from US military leaders during the war, solidifying its position as a preferred military supplier during the postwar era.
The company continued to specialize in aircraft until the 1980s when a decline in demand for its products made Grumman an acquisition target for military contractors with more diversified operations. After a failed takeover attempt by Martin Marietta Corporation, the predecessor of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Corporation, bought out Grumman Corporation in 1994. The merger established Northrop Grumman as a combined entity. Northrop Grumman then acquired the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1996, Logicon Corporation in 1997, Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical in 1999, Litton Industries in 2001, and TRW Incorporated in 2002 during a flurry of expansionism. It later added Scaled Composites (2007) and Orbital ATK (2018) to its list of owned subsidiaries.
Impact
During their histories as independent companies, the Northrop and Grumman corporations both made valuable contributions to the Allied effort in World War II. Their technologies proved advantageous to US forces, and both companies ultimately helped the United States and its allies prevail over the Axis powers.
Both Northrop and Grumman benefited from postwar tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, which stoked the decades-long Cold War. During the Cold War, the US military entered into an arms race with the rival Soviets, providing Northrop and Grumman with lucrative and expanding markets for their products. Northrop Corporation, in particular, came under scrutiny beginning in the 1970s, when the company was implicated in scandals related to illegal contributions to the reelection campaign of President Richard Nixon and allegations of bribery. Grumman Corporation also faced Cold War-era controversies, which mainly related to cost overruns and allegations of bribery involving government officials in Iran and Japan.
In the 2020s, Northrop Grumman is a leading entity in the US military-industrial complex. The term describes the financial and operational relationships between national militaries and the private-sector firms that develop and produce the equipment they use. The US military-industrial complex has long been viewed with suspicion, with President Dwight Eisenhower famously warning against its growing influence in his 1961 farewell address. It has drawn particularly sharp criticism since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, with critics charging that its influential corporate members wield excessive sway over US foreign policy. In particular, opponents of the military-industrial complex note that major players like Northrop Grumman directly profit during periods of increased international tension and military conflict.
Bibliography
Bandiera, Luiz Alberto Moniz. The World Disorder: US Hegemony, Proxy Wars, Terrorism, and Humanitarian Catastrophes. Springer, 2019.
Moosa, Imad A. The Economics of War: Profiteering, Militarism, and Imperialism. Edward Elgar, 2019.
Mattera, Philip. “Northrop Grumman: Corporate Rap Sheet.” Corporate Research Project, 22 Sept. 2012, www.corp-research.org/northrop-grumman. Accessed 6 Aug. 2021.
“Northrop Grumman Full Year 2022 Earnings: Beats Expectations.” Yahoo Finance, 27 Jan. 2023, www.yahoo.com/now/northrop-grumman-full-2022-earnings-105128489.html. Accessed 3 May 2023.
Olsen-Phillips, Peter. “Much of Northrop Grumman’s Washington Influence Flies Under the Radar.” Sunlight Foundation, 19 May 2015, sunlightfoundation.com/2015/05/19/much-of-northrop-grummans-washington-influence-flies-under-the-radar/. Accessed 6 Aug. 2021.
“Our Heritage.” Northrop Grumman, 2021, www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/northrop-grumman-heritage/. Accessed 6 Aug. 2021.
Rattigan, Kathryn M. “Northrop Grumman Enlists the Expertise of Start-Ups to Bring Autonomy to the Military.” National Law Review, 20 Aug. 2020, www.natlawreview.com/article/northrop-grumman-enlists-expertise-start-ups-to-bring-autonomy-to-military. Accessed 6 Aug. 2021.
“Who We Are.” Northrop Grumman, 2023, www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are. Accessed 3 May 2023.