Northrop Grumman Realigns Aerospace Systems Sector

March 5, 2013

Northrop Grumman is consolidating activities of its aerospace systems sector into five centers of design and integration excellence, announced the company on Monday. It’s also going to shutter a facility in Dominguez Hills, Calif., that supports its information systems work, states the company’s March 4 release. The five COEs are: Manned Aircraft Design in Melbourne, Fla.; Unmanned Systems in Rancho Bernardo, north of San Diego; Electronic Attack in Bethpage, N.Y.; and two for Aircraft Integration: one in Palmdale, Calif., and one in St. Augustine, Fla., according to the company’s March 4 release. The Manned Aircraft Design COE will include aircraft design work currently performed in Bethpage; however, the company’s B-2, F/A-18, and F-35 programs will remain in Palmdale, El Segundo, and Redondo Beach, Calif., respectively, acccording to the release. The Unmanned Systems COE will incorporate the company’s MQ-4C Triton program from Bethpage and NATO Airborne Ground Surveillance program from Melbourne, states the release. “Consolidating these centers of excellence will improve our strategic alignment with our customers’ need for increasingly innovative and affordable products, services, and solutions,” said Wes Bush, company chairman, CEO, and president.

Related Content

Air Force Plans New Campaign, Social Media Partnerships to Combat Recruiting Shortfall

March 31, 2023
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…

GAO Tells Congress: Pentagon Still Needs a Portfolio Plan for Tactical Aviation

March 31, 2023
A GAO official told the House Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon still doesn't have a portfolio-wide plan for tactical aviation, which would help itself and Congress identify true priorities and avoid duplication of effort. He also said the agency is worried that the F-35’s engine shortcomings are being addressed…

21 Tankers Line Up for Record-Breaking Launch as McConnell Practices ACE

March 30, 2023
More than 20 tankers lined the runway at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on March 27, for an “elephant walk” and the base’s largest mass launch of aircraft ever. Sixteen KC-46s and five KC-135s participated in the flush, with aircraft and Airmen from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the 931st…

F-35s Arrive at Kadena as F-15 Withdrawl Continues

March 30, 2023
F-35 Lightning II fighters arrived on Okinawa in March as the Air Force continues to swap out its permanently deployed F-15 Eagles at Kadena Air Base, Japan. Air Force officials declined to provide the exact number of F-35s at Kadena or say when more F-15s would depart, citing operational security.

It’s Official: ARRW Is Done When All-Up Tests Conclude. What’s Next?

March 30, 2023
The Air Force’s ARRW hypersonic missile program will end after another couple of tests, service acquisition executive Andrew Hunter told the House Armed Services Committee. His written testimony affirmed remarks from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall that the boost-glide ARRW will be supplanted by the air-breathing Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft Will Join the Air Force Before NGAD

March 29, 2023
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be operational in the late 2020s, several years before the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems, Air Force officials told the House Armed Services tactical aviation panel. The CCAs will first be “shooters,” then electronic warfare platforms, then sensors, in that order, they added.