Northridge Facility to Produce Defense Missile System

Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a $322 million contract from the U.S. Navy to produce a new rocket motor for a variant of its advanced anti-radiation guided missile system. Produced at the Northridge facility of the Falls Church, Va.-based defense and aerospace firm, the contract calls for the company to develop, test and integrate the new solid rocket motor into an extended range variant of the guided missile. The work is expected to be completed in 2023. The missile is a supersonic, air-launched weapon that can rapidly engage traditional and advanced land- and sea-launched threats. It is used on the Navy’s Hornet, Super Hornet, Growler and F-35 Lightning II aircraft and the Italian Air Force’s Tornado aircraft. The missile system had previously been made by Orbital ATK Inc., which Northrop acquired last year. “(Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range) coupled with missile lethality will meet a critical defense suppression requirement while protecting our strike aviators,” Cary Ralston, vice president and general manager of defense electronic systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement.