Northrop Grumman

Nuclear Weapon Producers

Northrop Grumman is involved in all aspects of the US nuclear weapons arsenal- from facilities producing warheads to producing key components for specially designed delivery systems.

Nuclear Weapons |  Investments (years compared) (2021) (2020) (2019)

Company Profile

Northrop Grumman, is an aerospace, defence and security company, which conducts most of its business with the US Department of Defence and intelligence community.1 In the financial year ending 31 December 2021, Northrop Grumman reported $35,667 million in sales.2

In June 2018 Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital ATK and renamed it Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.3 Orbital ATK and its subsidiary ATK Launch Systems held nuclear weapons contracts for the US arsenal prior to the acquisition. By acquiring Orbital ATK, Northrop Grumman took over the Sentinel (GBSD), Minuteman III and Trident contracts of Orbital ATK and its subsidiary, ATK Launch Systems.

In February 2021, Veritas Capital, combining its business with Peraton, completed its acquisition of Northrop Grumman’s IT and Mission Support Services Business.4 As a result, Peraton is now the recipient of a $6.7 million contract for work on the Minuteman III system, previously held by Northrop Grumman.5

Stock exchange listing

NYSE: NOC

Contact information

Northrop Grumman Corporation
2980 Fairview Park Drive
Falls Church, VA 22042
+1.703.280.2900
Website: http://www.northropgrumman.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NorthropGrumman
Instagram: @NorthropGrumman
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/northrop-grumman-corporation
Twitter: @NGCNews | @NorthropGrumman
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia

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Nuclear weapons

Northrop Grumman is building the ‘Sentinel’, as the Ground-based Strategic Deterrent, the new intercontinental ballistic missile system for the US, has been named, under a $13.3 billion nine-year contract awarded in 2020.6

Northrop Grumman subsidiary ATK Launch Systems is part of the Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), LLC joint venture that since 2013 manages and operates the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex where US nuclear weapons are assembled.7 Under the $35.1 billion contract, the joint venture is “fully responsible for high-hazard enriched uranium, special nuclear material (SNM), high-explosive and nuclear weapon assembly/disassembly functions”. 8 In July 2020, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that it had ended its deal with CNS after the latter had failed to meet safety and security standards.cxii While a new management and operation contract for both sites was initially awarded to Nuclear Production One in November 20219, the US Department of Energy announced in May 2022 that it would terminate said contract award and instead hold two new competitions for separate contracts to manage each site, and in the meantime further extend the current contract held by CNS.10 In October 2022, the contract held by CNS was formally extended with up to five years for the Y-12 National Security Complex and up to three years for the Pantex Plant.11

Northrop was also awarded a $52 million contract modification in November 2019 for “Strategic Automated Command and Control System Replacement (SACCS-R)”. The contract will run through July 2023.12 This is part of the replacement of the aging air-gapped hardware systems related to command, control and communications, including the infamous 8-inch floppy disks.13

Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp was awarded a $1.7 billion contract in December 1997 to continue Minuteman III sustainment support while a new contractor was found, the contract has been repeatedly extended until at least November 2022.14

By acquiring Orbital ATK, Northrop Grumman took over the contracts of Orbital ATK and its subsidiary ATK Launch Systems. Orbital ATK was responsible for refurbishing all three solid propellant stages of the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) under the plan to keep the missiles operational until at least 2030.15 Northrop Grumman also has two outstanding contracts from 2021 for work on the Minuteman III system, with a potential total value of  $21.6 billion.16

ATK Launch Systems was also awarded a $86.4 million contract in 2018 for procurement of motor and component test, evaluation, engineering support, and disposal for all stages of Minuteman and Peacekeeper systems, which will run through 2026.17

Sandia National Laboratory is directly involved in the nuclear weapon modernisation programmes of at least the W88 Alt 37 warhead18 and the W76-1 warhead19 (both used for arming the submarine launched Trident II (D5) missiles), the new W80-4 warheads for the Long Range Standoff missiles20, and the new B61-12 gravity bomb.21 National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell, has the contract for the management and operation of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The contract runs until April 2027 with a potential total value of $43.3 billion.22 Northrop Grumman and Universities Research Association23 support NTESS in the performance of this contract.24

Northrop Grumman produces propulsion systems for the Trident II (D5) missiles.25 Northrop has several outstanding contracts from both the US and UK for work on the Trident missiles. These include a nine-year $307.8 million contract awarded in 201526 and a four-year $213.1 million contract awarded in 202027 for the underwater launcher systems. The US Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman another seven-year contract in March 2019 to work on the common missile compartment used for Trident missiles by both new UK Dreadnought and US Columbia class submarines. The contract has a potential value of $372.5 million.28

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Investments

Investments compared

Click on the institution to see if and how they've invested in the past. Red indicates a new investor in 2021. Green indicates investors that ended their involvement by 2021.

2022 Investments

2022

[table id=58 /]
2021 Investments

2021

40 Financial institutions made $35,773 million available in the research period January 2019- January 2021.

47 Financial institutions made $41,791.59 million available to Northrop Grumman in the research period. The table displays the top 15 investors but can be adjusted or searched. All figures are in millions of US dollars.

All forms of financing meeting the definition of substantive financial relationships are included in the report. This comprises financial institutions participating in loans and underwriting deals since 1 January 2019, as well as those involved in loans which have been closed before that date but have not yet matured before 1 October 2020. For (managing) investments in shares or bonds of arms companies, a group-level threshold of at least 0.5% of the outstanding shares or bonds at most recent filing dates is applied per financial institution.
2020 Investments

2020

47 Financial institutions made $41,791.4 million available in the research period January 2018-2020.

This comprises financial institutions participating in loans and underwriting deals since 1 January 2018, as well as those involved in loans which have been closed before that date but have not yet matured before 1 October 2019. For (managing) investments in shares or bonds of arms companies, a group-level threshold of at least 0.5% of the outstanding shares or bonds at most recent filing dates is applied per financial institution.

2019 Investments

2019

71 Financial institutions made $53,025 million available in the research period January 2017-2019.

This comprises financial institutions participating in loans and underwriting deals since 1 January 2017, as well as those involved in loans which have been closed before that date but have not yet matured before 1 October 2018. For (managing) investments in shares or bonds of arms companies, a group-level threshold of at least 0.5% of the outstanding shares or bonds at most recent filing dates is applied per financial institution.

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More producers

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Last updated: 2023-07-06 14:53:54

Notes

  1. Who We Are (2022) | Northrop Grumman. Available at: https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are.
  2. ‘2021 Annual Report’, Northrop Grumman (2022), p. 53 Available at:  https://www.northropgrumman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-Annual-Report-Northrop-Grumman-1.pdf.
  3. Northrop Grumman Completes Orbital ATK Acquisition, Blake Larson Elected to Lead New Innovation Systems Sector. Northrop Grumman Newsroom, 6 June 2018. Available at: https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-completes-orbital-atk-acquisition-blake-larson-elected-to-lead-new-innovation-systems-sector.
  4. ‘Veritas Capital Completes Acquisition of Northrop Grumman’s IT and Mission Support Services Business’, Business Wire, 1 February 2021. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210201005535/en/Veritas-Capital-Completes-Acquisition-of-Northrop-Grumman%E2%80%99s-IT-and-Mission-Support-Services-Business.
  5. CONTRACT to PERATON INC. | USAspending, 5 April 2021. Available at: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA873021F8503_9700_47QTCK18D0011_4732 (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  6. CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending, 8 September 2020. Available at:  CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  7. About (2022) | Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC. Available at: https://cns-llc.us/about; Amy F. Woolf and James D. Werner (2021) ‘The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Overview of Department of Energy Sites’, Congressional Research Service, p. 14. Available at: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45306.
  8. Contract No. DE-NA0001942 (2018) Energy.gov. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/downloads/contract-no-de-na0001942 (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  9. NNSA Awards Management and Operations Contract for Y-12, Pantex. Energy.gov, 29 November 2021. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-awards-management-and-operations-contract-y-12-pantex.
  10. NNSA cancels Y-12, Pantex contract award, to hold new competitions for separate site management contracts. Energy.gov,16 May 2022. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-cancels-y-12-pantex-contract-award-hold-new-competitions-separate-site.
  11. NNSA announces contract extension to Consolidated Nuclear Security for the management and operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Pantex Plant. Energy.gov, 3 October 2022. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-announces-contract-extension-consolidated-nuclear-security-management-and.
  12. Contracts for November 8, 2019 (2019) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2012852// (Accessed: 6October 2022);
    CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION| USAspending, 1 August 2016. Available at:  CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  13. Insinna, Valeria,‘The US nuclear forces’ Dr. Strangelove-era messaging system finally got rid of its floppy disks’, C4ISRNet, 17 October 2019. Available at: https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2019/10/17/the-us-nuclear-forces-dr-strangelove-era-messaging-system-finally-got-rid-of-its-floppy-disks/.
  14. CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION| USAspending, 19 October 1999. Available at: CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE AND MISSION SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  15. Propulsion Systems (2022) | Northrop Grumman. Available at: https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/propulsion-systems.
  16. IDV to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending.
  17. Contracts for September 6, 2018 (2018) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/1622674// (Accessed: 6 October 2022); CONTRACT to ATK LAUNCH SYSTEMS INC.| USAspending, 6 September 2018. Available at: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_IDV_FA881818D0001_9700 (Accessed: 18 October 2022).
  18. ‘W88 Alteration 370 Program’ (2022).  National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/W88-ALT370%20012422.pdf.
  19. ‘W76-1 Life Extension Program’ (2019), National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/02/f59/02-13-2019-Factsheet-W76-1%20LEP.pdf.
  20. ‘W80-4 Life Extension Program’(2022). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/W80-4%20020122.pdf.
  21. ‘B61-12 Life Extension Program’ (2021). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/B61-12%20Fact%20Sheet%20December%202021.pdf.
  22. CONTRACT to NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS OF SANDIA, LLC.| USAspending, 18 January 2017. Available at: CONTRACT to NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS OF SANDIA, LLC | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  23. Universities Research Association, Inc., (URA), is a consortium of over 90 leading research-oriented universities, primarily in the United States, and in Canada, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. More information found here: https://www.ura-hq.org/.
  24. NNSA Awards Sandia National Laboratories Management & Operating Contract to National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS). Energy.gov, 2016. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-awards-sandia-national-laboratories-management-operating (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  25. Propulsion Systems (2022) | Northrop Grumman. Available at: https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/propulsion-systems .
  26. CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION| USAspending, 1 October 2015. Available at: CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
  27. CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION| USAspending’, 1 October 2020. Available at: CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 7 October 2022); Contracts for October 1, 2020 (2020) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 7 October 2022).
  28. CONTRACT NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION| USAspending, 12 March 2019. Available at: CONTRACT to NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | USAspending (Accessed: 6 October 2022).