Northrop Grumman Corporation History



Address:
1840 Century Park East
Los Angeles, California 90067-2199
U.S.A.

Telephone: (310) 553-6262
Fax: (310) 201-3023

Public Company
Incorporated: 1939 as Northrop Aircraft Company
Employees: 98,250
Sales: $7.62 billion (2000)
Stock Exchanges: New York Pacific
Ticker Symbol: NOC
NAIC: 332993 Ammunition (Except Small Arms) Manufacturing; 332995 Other Ordnance and Accessories Manufacturing; 334290 Other Communication Equipment Manufacturing; 334419 Other Electronic Component Manufacturing; 334511 Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing; 336411 Aircraft Manufacturing; 336413 Other Aircraft Part and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing; 336414 Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing; 336611 Ship Building and Repairing; 541512 Computer Systems Design Services

Company Perspectives:

Northrop Grumman is a company defined by one word--technology. From under the sea to outer space and into cyberspace, Northrop Grumman technologies and products play a key role in the evolving defense environment of the 21st century. The fully integrated battle management of the near future will take a network-centric approach, in which communications among ships, satellites, armies, aircraft and submarines will be fused into a net of interconnectivity enabled through cyberspace. Northrop Grumman today represents virtually every technology that will play a significant part in this modern era of warfare. Since the end of the Cold War, Northrop Grumman has built a broad-based weapons capability to meet current and emerging national defense needs, including anti-terrorism and homeland security. Throughout this transformation, the company has maintained a consistent focus and strategy. As a result, Northrop Grumman is now a top-tier defense company, a full partner with its military customers and an inherent part of the country's national security.

Key Dates:

1929:
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation is founded.
1939:
Jack Northrop forms Northrop Aircraft Company, beginning work on a "flying wing" bomber.
1958:
Northrop Aircraft changes its name to Northrop Corporation.
1969:
Grumman Aircraft changes its name to Grumman Corporation.
1981:
A U.S. court of appeals blocks an attempted hostile takeover of Grumman by LTV Corporation.
1994:
Northrop acquires Grumman for $2.17 billion, forming Northrop Grumman Corporation.
1996:
Company acquires the defense and electronic systems business of Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $2.9 billion.
1997:
Northrop Grumman agrees to be acquired by Lockheed Martin for $11.6 billion; Logicon, a leading provider of defense information technology and battlefield management systems, is acquired.
1998:
Merger with Lockheed falls apart, following U.S. government opposition on antitrust grounds; Northrop Grumman subsequently focuses increasingly on cutting-edge areas of the defense industry, including electronics and systems integration.
2000:
Vought Aircraft is sold to the Carlyle Group for $1.2 billion.
2001:
Litton Industries, Inc. is acquired for $3.8 billion in stock and $1.3 billion in debt; Newport News Shipbuilding Inc., maker of aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy, is acquired for $2.6 billion.

Company History:

Further Reading:

  • Allen, Richard Sanders, The Northrop Story, 1929-1939, New York: Orion Books, 1990, 178 p.
  • Biddle, Frederic M., "Northrop Set to Cut Jobs, Restructure," Wall Street Journal, August 25, 1998, p. A3.
  • Biddle, Frederic M., and Thomas E. Ricks, "Lockheed Terminates Northrop Merger," Wall Street Journal, July 17, 1998, p. A3.
  • Biddle, Wayne, "Meditations on a Merger: Grumman-Northrop, Etc.," Nation, June 20, 1994, p. 87.
  • Bremner, Brian, "How Grumman Is Trying to Keep Its Nose Up," Business Week, August 6, 1990, p. 33.
  • Campbell, Edward J., A Century of Leadership: The Story of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, New York: Newcomen Society of the United States, 1986, 22 p.
  • Chakravarty, Subrata N., "The Darkness Before Dawn," Forbes, March 16, 1981, p. 82.
  • ------, "The Resurrection of Grumman," Forbes, April 7, 1986, pp. 98+.
  • Cole, Jeff, "War of Attrition: Defense Consolidation Rushes Toward an Era of Only Three or Four Giants," Wall Street Journal, December 6, 1996, pp. A1+.
  • Cole, Jeff, et al., "United States Seeks to Bar Purchase of Northrop," Wall Street Journal, March 24, 1998, p. A3.
  • Cole, Jeff, and Steven Lipin, "Northrop Agrees to Acquire Logicon in Stock Deal Valued at $750 Million," Wall Street Journal, May 6, 1997, p. A4.
  • Cordtz, Dan, "Kresa's Cleanup," Financial World, Fall 1994, pp. 52-53.
  • Deady, Tim, "Future of Northrop Hangs in Balance of Proposed B-2 Cuts," Los Angeles Business Journal, August 6, 1990, p. 1.
  • Dubashi, Jagannath, "Grumman's New Flight Plan," Financial World, March 10, 1987, pp. 24+.
  • "Fighting Fit: Martin Marietta and Grumman," Economist, March 12, 1994, p. 75.
  • "For Northrop, a Shot at Survival," Business Week, April 18, 1994, p. 52.
  • Gibson, W. David, "Poised for Takeoff: R&D Enhances Grumman's Prospects," Barron's, March 12, 1984, pp. 14+.
  • Gold, David, "A Cloudy Future for Northrop Corp.," Financial World, February 20/March 5, 1985, pp. 38+.
  • Grover, Ronald, and Dean Foust, "Firefight in the Defense Industry," Business Week, March 28, 1994, p. 31.
  • "Grumman: Beating a Strategic Retreat to the Defense Business," Business Week, November 14, 1983, pp. 210+.
  • Gunston, Bill, Grumman: Sixty Years of Excellence, New York: Orion Books, 1988, 159 p.
  • Harris, Roy J., Jr., "Northrop Offer of $2.17 Billion Wins Grumman," Wall Street Journal, April 5, 1994, p. A3.
  • Howard, Bob, "Not Dead Yet: Northrop, Other Aerospace Firms Are Flying Again," Los Angeles Business Journal, May 12, 1997, pp. 22+.
  • Klass, Philip J., "Northrop Grumman's EW Role Greatly Expanded by Litton Buy," Aviation Week and Space Technology, October 1, 2001, p. 62.
  • Kraar, L., "Grumman Still Flies for Navy, but It Is Selling the World," Fortune, February 1976, p. 78.
  • Kuzela, Lad, "Nudging Northrop into the Future," Industry Week, July 26, 1982, pp. 63+.
  • Lay, Beirne, Someone Has to Make It Happen: The Inside Story of Tex Thornton, the Man Who Built Litton Industries, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969, 204 p.
  • "Look Who's Heading for No. 1 in Defense: Northrop," Business Week, April 19, 1982, pp. 70+.
  • Lubove, Seth, "Dogfight," Forbes, May 29, 2000, pp. 58-60.
  • Magnet, Myron, "Grumman's Comeback," Fortune, September 20, 1982, pp. 62+.
  • Newman, Richard J., "Fighting for Dollars," U.S. News and World Report, September 17, 2001, p. 56.
  • Norman, James R., "Ninth Life?," Forbes, April 26, 1993, p. 72.
  • "Northrop's Campaign to Get a New Fighter Flying in the Third World," Business Week, June 18, 1984, pp. 74+.
  • Palmeri, Christopher, and Stan Crock, "Northrop: A Top Gun in the Defense Buildup," Business Week, October 1, 2001, p. 64.
  • Pasztor, Andy, and Anne Marie Squeo, "Northrop Shifts Focus to Cutting-Edge Military Lines: Growth Is Sought in Information-Systems and Electronic-Warfare Markets," Wall Street Journal, October 1, 1999, p. B4.
  • Pellegrino, Charles R., and Joshua Stoff, Chariots for Apollo: The Making of The Lunar Module, New York: Atheneum, 1985, 238 p.
  • Power, Christopher, "Grumman: Moving Beyond the Wild Blue Yonder?," Business Week, February 1, 1988, pp. 54+.
  • Ramirez, Anthony, "The Secret Bomber Bugging Northrop," Fortune, March 14, 1988, pp. 90+.
  • Rodengen, Jeffrey L., The Legend of Litton Industries, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Write Stuff Enterprises, 2000, 159 p.
  • Ropelewski, Robert, "Grumman Corp: Destined for Diversification," Interavia Aerospace World, March 1993, p. 18.
  • Rosenberg, Hilary, "Throwing Away the Textbook," Financial World, October 1, 1982, pp. 12+.
  • Schine, Eric, "Northrop Is Flying in a Sky Full of Flak," Business Week, April 24, 1989, pp. 109+.
  • ------, "Northrop's Biggest Foe May Have Been Its Past," Business Week, May 6, 1991, p. 30.
  • "Shooting Star: Grumman," Economist, May 25, 1991, p. 76.
  • Squeo, Anne Marie, "Consolidation Turns the Tables on Two CEOs in the Defense Sector: As Industry Dynamics Shift, Northrop Bounces Back and Raytheon Stumbles," Wall Street Journal, July 19, 2001, pp. A1+.
  • ------, "Northrop Offer for Newport News Wins Support of Pentagon over General Dynamics Bid," Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2001, p. A3.
  • Squeo, Anne Marie, Nikhil Deogun, and Jeff Cole, "Northrop to Acquire Litton for $3.8 Billion," Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2000, p. A3.
  • Sweetman, Bill, "Northrop Grumman Back from the Brink," Interavia Business and Technology, September 2000, p. 18.
  • Tazewell, William L., Newport News Shipbuilding: The First Century, Newport News, Va.: Mariners' Museum, 1986, 256 p.
  • Thruelsen, Richard, The Grumman Story, New York: Praegeri, 1976, 401 p.
  • Toy, Stewart, Nina Easton, and Dave Griffiths, "Northrop's Bumpy Flight," Business Week, January 18, 1988, p. 26.
  • Vecsey, George, and George C. Dade, Getting Off the Ground: The Pioneers of Aviation Speak for Themselves, New York: Dutton, 1979, 304 p.
  • Wall, Robert, and David A. Fulghum, "Fighting to Stay in the Big League," Aviation Week and Space Technology, November 20, 2000, pp. 48-49.
  • Wrubel, Robert, "Stay of Execution: Iraq May Save Northrop's B-2 Bomber, but the Defense Contractor's Problems Run Deep," Financial World, September 4, 1990, pp. 42+.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 45. St. James Press, 2002.

Read more company histories