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Tag: Northrop Grumman

HII taps Northrop Grumman exec as new VP

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Wednesday it has hired Mike Aldinger as vice president of the live, virtual, constructive (LVC) training solutions department in its technical solutions division. Aldinger joins Newport News-based HII after 22 years at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.

HII is the United States’ largest military shipbuilding company and includes Newport News Shipbuilding and its Ingalls division in Mississippi. Aldinger was most recently NG Mission Systems’ business area manager for LVC mission integration, based in Orlando, Florida. His focus at HII will be on growing the company’s relationship with the U.S. Air Force, according to a news release from HII.

“HII’s extensive portfolio of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy training has helped transform LVC across the joint defense community,” Glenn Goodman, president of HII’s LVC Solutions business group, said in a statement. “Mike’s experience in tailoring and scaling mission training solutions will unlock expanded opportunities to support the joint force in the critical area of readiness.”

A graduate of the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida, Aldinger has worked in simulation training, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, mission planning and more. HII employs more than 44,000 people around the world.

Northrop Grumman commits $12.5M to Va. Tech Innovation Campus

Falls Church-based Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. has pledged $12.5 million to support research and teaching in quantum information science and engineering, becoming a partner of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Virginia Tech officials announced the donation Wednesday morning.

The $1 billion Virginia Tech Innovation Campus plans to invest an additional $15.8 million to establish the Center of Quantum Architecture and Software Development, bringing total support to $28.3 million.

“This partnership builds upon our longstanding relationship with Virginia Tech in a way that will fuel discoveries and talent development in a crucial, disruptive area of technology,” Kathy Warden, Northrop Grumman’s chair, CEO and president, said in a statement. She also is a member of the Innovation Campus Advisory Board. “We hope that other companies will also step forward in support of research in this area at the Innovation Campus and Virginia Tech. Quantum technology is something no single university or company can address on its own, so partnerships like this are essential.”

Northrop Grumman’s commitment will dramatically enhance the university’s work in a field that is connected to national security and many industries, but demand for quantum computing workers is higher than supply, and recruiting competition is fierce.

The company’s investment will be used to:

  • Establish an endowed faculty position that will help recruit an internationally recognized researcher to head the new Center of Quantum Architecture and Software Development
  • Endow five to 10 graduate fellowship positions to recruit nationally competitive doctoral and master’s candidates, with a focus on diversity
  • Build programs to connect Northrop Grumman experts with Virginia Tech quantum information science and engineering faculty based at the university’s Innovation Campus and Blacksburg campus
  • Create or enhance pathway programs that engage K-12 students — particularly those from underrepresented groups — to prepare them for STEM careers and ultimately help shape a more inclusive culture in the high tech sector.
Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus

“We are extremely grateful for this extraordinary commitment by Northrop Grumman,” Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Innovation Campus, said in a statement. “The emergence of quantum computing will affect all industries and alter the landscape for national defense. This new partnership enables us to expand our work in this field in powerful new ways and will sponsor a new Center of Quantum Architecture and Software Development on the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus that will lead the nation in this area of research.”

The relationship between Virginia Tech and Northrop Grumman is not new. Eight of Northrop Grumman’s vice presidents are Virginia Tech alumni, and more than 700 alumni work there, according to Tech. The company also recently sponsored a graduate degree cohort for 25 employees and 60 Tech students interned at NG over the summer. Other collaborative work has been done over the past decade and the new campus is 15 miles from NG’s headquarters.

“Advancing the new dynamics of quantum computing is important for Virginia Tech, Northrop Grumman, the greater D.C. region and the nation,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “We’re deeply grateful for Northrop Grumman’s generous support of research and education that supports innovation, security, and the development of technology talent in the commonwealth.”

Virginia Tech has received significan financial support from the government contracting sector. In May, aerospace and defense contractor Boeing made a record $50 million multiyear commitment to foster diversity at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. Also, Mehul Sanghani, CEO of Reston-based contractor Octo Consulting Group, and his wife, Hema, donated $10 million in January for the Innovation Campus’ Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics.

The $1 billion Innovation Campus, which will anchor a 65-acre innovation district in Alexandria, is a major player in the state’s Tech Talent Investment Program. Created as part of Virginia’s successful bid to attract Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion-plus HQ2 East Coast headquarters under development in National Landing, the Tech Talent Investment Program aims to produce 31,000 in-demand computer science and computer engineering graduates during the next two decades, through a cooperative program with 11 Virginia universities.

Amazon alone plans to hire between 25,000 and 37,850 workers for HQ2 during the next 15 years. Nationally, the computer science and information technology sectors are expected to add 531,200 jobs between 2019 and 2029, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Virginia Tech held a groundbreaking ceremony in September for the campus’s $302 million Academic Building 1, which is expected to open in August 2024.

Northrop Grumman wins $109M Air Force contract modification

Falls Church-based Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. received a $108.8 million U.S. Air Force contract modification, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday.

Under the contract, Northrop Grumman provides sustainment for the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aircraft. The modification provides for a second year of contractor logistics support services and brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $267 million.

Work will be performed in South Korea and Sierra Vista, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 29, 2024.

Northrop Grumman employs roughly 97,000 people worldwide and reported $36.79 billion in 2020 revenue.

Northrop Grumman names chief sustainability officer

Northrop Grumman Corp. has named Michael Witt its vice president and chief sustainability officer. He will assume the role on Aug. 9, according to the Falls-Church based Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor.

Witt will lead Northrop Grumman’s sustainability initiatives, creating business practices for carbon reduction, resource efficiency and materials management.

Witt previously held leadership positions at Dow Inc. He has a doctorate’s degree in environmental engineering from Michigan State University and a MBA from Northwood University.

Northrop Grumman employs roughly 97,000 people worldwide and reported $36.79 billion in 2020 revenue. The company reported $8.9 million worth of contract awards and $9.2 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2021, up from $8.6 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2020. It received an A- in CDP’s 2020 climate change rankings.

Northrop Grumman lands $935M contract to build crew quarters for lunar space station

Falls Church-based aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a $935 million contract from NASA to build the crew quarters for a space station in lunar orbit as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which plans to return astronauts to the moon this decade.

The Fortune 500 corporation will complete the design and development of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for NASA’s planned Gateway space station and will integrate HALO with the power and propulsion element being built by Colorado-based Maxar Technologies. The HALO module will serve as a crew habitat and will also have three docking ports for visiting spacecraft and other lunar support vehicles. Its design is based on Northrop’s Cygnus spacecraft, which is currently used to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

NASA’s Artemis program — which ultimately aims to land the first humans on Mars — is set to send up its first unmanned rocket mission in early November, with plans for a new generation of astronauts, including the first woman, to land on the moon in 2024. (A Government Accountability Office report released on May 26 expressed skepticism that NASA can meet the 2024 goal, noting remaining “technical risks” and the fact that the program’s original landing goal of 2028 had been accelerated by the Trump administration in 2019.)

Northrop Grumman is producing a set of rocket boosters for that November unmanned spacecraft mission, part of a potential $49.5 million contract through which the contractor will produce twin boosters for the next three Artemis missions and three other Space Launch System flights by 2030.

In June 2020, Northrop Grumman won a $187 million NASA contract to design the HALO. Northrop Grumman completed the preliminary design review for HALO in May, confirming the vehicle’s design.

Under the new contract, Northrop will be working towards a critical design review in spring 2022, with delivery of the HALO module to the launch site in 2024.

Northrop Grumman receives $959M defense contract

Falls Church-based aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. was awarded a $959.1 million contract Friday from the U.S. Army for production of infrared countermeasures, which protect aircraft from heat-seeking missiles.

The work is to be completed by April 29, 2026.

The contract comes on the heels of a $2.3 billion defense contract Northrop Grumman received earlier in April to support and maintain propulsion subsystems for Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles. In March, Northrop Grumman and partner Raytheon Missiles & Defense were awarded a Missile Defense Agency contract worth up to $3.93 billion to perform work on the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.

A Fortune 500 company, Northrop Grumman employs roughly 97,000 people worldwide and reported $36.79 billion in 2020 revenue. The company reported $8.9 million worth of contract awards and $9.2 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2021, up from $8.6 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2020.

Two Virginia companies make 2021 LinkedIn Top Companies list

Virginia-based Fortune 500 companies Northrop Grumman Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp. are among the 50 best workplaces to grow your career, according to LinkedIn’s Top Companies List, released this week.

Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman, which ranks No. 32 on the LinkedIn Top Companies list, was cited for a variety of mentorship programs for women. The aerospace and defense contractor’s in-demand jobs include supply chain associate, materials and process engineer, and manufacturing engineer.

Capital One Financial Corp., based in McLean, comes in at No. 39 on the list, with funding analyst, business analysis manager and auditor named as in-demand jobs. LinkedIn made note of the company’s Invest in Yourself Day, which allows employees to take one day a month for personal and professional development.

Amazon.com Inc., which is developing its HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington, ranks No. 1 on the list, which spotlights companies that attract and invest in talent.

LinkedIn used its own data to build the list, considering issues such as “ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity and educational background.”

Northrop Grumman lands $2.3B ICBM contract

Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contract for up to $2.3 billion to support propulsion subsystems for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), DOD announced on Tuesday.

The 18.5-year contract provides assistance to the government in maintaining the Minuteman III weapon system. The work will be performed primarily in Corrine and Magna, Utah, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 5, 2040.

In March, Northrop Grumman and partner Raytheon Missiles & Defense were awarded a Missile Defense Agency contract worth up to $3.93 billion to perform work on the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.

A Fortune 500 global aerospace and defense contractor, Northrop Grumman employs more than 90,000 people and reported $36.79 billion in 2020 revenue.

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Northrop Grumman wins missile defense contract worth up to $3.9B

Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and partner Raytheon Missiles & Defense were awarded a Missile Defense Agency contract worth up to $3.93 billion to perform work on the U.S. ballistic missile defense system, the agency announced Tuesday.

Part of an award of $1.6 billion in contracts through fiscal year 2022 to Northrop Grumman and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, Northrop and Raytheon will conduct risk reduction and technology development work in Arizona, Utah and Alabama on the Next Generation Interceptor program, part of the ground-based missile defense system that will protect the country from intercontinental ballistic missiles. The end of the contract, including flight test options, is in 2029, according to Northrop.

Lockheed will work with Aerojet Rocketdyne on its part of the contract in Alabama and California, which is worth up to $3.7 billion with option periods through 2025.

“We are honored to be selected by the MDA as prime contractor to develop the NGI system to protect our nation from advanced missile attacks,”  Scott Lehr, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of launch and missile defense, said in a statement. “There is a critical timeline for fielding this capability and our team brings together the industry’s top missile defense talent, agile design and manufacturing practices, and state-of-the-art operational factories to support the MDA and our nation’s defense against these evolving threats.”

Northrop Grumman employs more than 90,000 people and reported $33.8 billion in 2019 revenue.

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Northrop Grumman wins $82M drone support contract

The U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday that it has awarded an $82.9 million contract to Falls Church-based Fortune 500 defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. to sustain, test and engineer MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Navy.

Under the contract, the company will also provide technical and field support to ensure the drone’s readiness for military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The award also includes logistics, mission control and operator training equipment support and reach-back engineering services for the Triton assets of the Navy and the Australian government. The MQ-4C Triton was developed by Northrop Grumman.

The company is set to receive $61.1 million in initial contract funds consisting of the Navy’s fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement and operation and maintenance funds, plus foreign cooperative project funds. The drone’s prime contractor will perform work through March 2022 at locations within and outside the continental U.S. Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.

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