- Business
- Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company that designs, develops, produces, integrates, sustains and modernizes systems and solutions for U.S. and international government customers, principally the U.S. government and intelligence community. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, the company operates through four segments: Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems and Space Systems. Aeronautics Systems provides military aircraft systems, including the B-21 Raider long-range strike aircraft, B-2 Spirit sustainment, E-130J Phoenix II NC3 aircraft, F-35 and F/A-18 fuselage production, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, MQ-4C Triton, RQ-4 Global Hawk and related sustainment services. Defense Systems develops strategic deterrent systems, advanced tactical weapons and missile defense solutions, including Sentinel engineering and manufacturing development, Integrated Battle Command System, guided rockets, precision strike weapons, hypersonic propulsion, cannon systems, ammunition, fuzes and solid rocket motors. Mission Systems supplies radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors, C4ISR systems, electronic warfare, advanced communications and networking, microelectronics, navigation and positioning sensors, cyber solutions and intelligence processing systems. Space Systems delivers satellites and spacecraft, sensors and payloads, ground systems, missile defense interceptors, launch vehicles and propulsion systems, including GEM solid rocket boosters, SDA tracking and transport layers, Cygnus spacecraft, Next-Gen OPIR satellites, NASA SLS motors and Trident II solid rocket motors. The company serves primarily the U.S. Department of War and intelligence customers, while also supporting international and civil government programs, and it reported approximately 95,000 employees at year-end 2025. Recent strategic changes include the January 2025 realignment of the Strike and Surveillance Aircraft Solutions business unit from Defense Systems to Aeronautics Systems and the May 2025 sale of substantially all of its Immersive Mission Solutions training services business to Serco for $333 million in cash. In January 2026, Northrop Grumman was competitively awarded the U.S. Marine Corps’ MUX TACAIR collaborative combat aircraft program with Kratos, combining Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed and autonomous technologies with Kratos’ Valkyrie platform and a mission kit and autonomy software for rapid delivery.