Northrop Grumman Corporation announced it is designating five centers of design and integration excellence in support of its Aerospace Systems sector's manned aircraft, unmanned systems and electronic attack businesses. In addition, the company announced plans to close an Information Systems sector facility in Dominguez Hills, Calif.
"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, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman. "We continuously examine our operational capacity to determine how we can leverage it in the most efficient and cost-competitive manner. Given the current budget environment, it is imperative that we act to enhance future performance, innovation and affordability for our customers."
The Manned Aircraft Design Center of Excellence will be located in Melbourne, Fla., and will include aircraft design work currently being performed at the company's Bethpage, N.Y., facility. The B-2, F/A-18 and F-35 programs will remain in Palmdale, El Segundo and Redondo Beach, Calif., respectively.
Governor Rick Scott said, “We are grateful for Northrop Grumman’s existing presence in our state and that they have chosen to establish two new centers of excellence here – one in St. Augustine and one in Melbourne. Northrop Grumman’s investment in Florida means more than 1,000 new jobs for our state and builds on our strong record of job creation over the last two years. Florida is already ranked number two in the nation for businesses to grow and succeed, and we won’t stop until we are number one. More companies continue to move here from other states like New York and California because Florida is committed to cutting taxes and eliminating regulations to help job creators succeed at creating more jobs.”
Gray Swoope, Secretary of Commerce and president and CEO of Enterprise Florida said, “Northrop Grumman’s continued investment in the state is a testament to Florida’s competitiveness and supportive business climate. The importance of having strong strategic partners cannot be overstated: Governor Scott, Enterprise Florida and the professional economic development teams in both communities and the region made it possible to move quickly and to put together a competitive case for Northrop Grumman to grow its presence in Florida.”
The company's Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence will be located at its Rancho Bernardo facility in San Diego, Calif. Two programs will transition to that center: the MQ-4C Triton program from Bethpage, N.Y., and the NATO Airborne Ground Surveillance program from Melbourne, Fla.
An Electronic Attack Center of Excellence will be located in Bethpage, N.Y., and will include the Aerospace Systems' Electronic Attack program team.
The company has designated two Aircraft Integration Centers of Excellence, one in Palmdale, Calif., and the other in St. Augustine, Fla. Current integration activities in Moss Point, Miss., and New Town, N.D., are not included in this transition.
The company will close its Dominguez Hills, Calif., facility as part of its long-term effort to reduce facilities and costs. This facility supports the development and integration of C4I networked communications capabilities and solutions, and mission support work for the Information Systems sector. This work will be transitioned in phases to other company facilities beginning in 2013. Northrop Grumman also announced plans to complete the closure of its Electronic Systems sector's Norwalk, Conn., facility, including radar test range operations.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.