Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) manufactures center fuselages for all three variants of the F-35 Lighting II stealth fighter at its Integrated Assembly Line (IAL) in Palmdale, California. Employing advanced manufacturing technologies, the IAL delivers one F-35 center fuselage every 30 hours to meet U.S. and international customer needs. The IAL came online in 2011 and has enabled Northrop Grumman to deliver over 1,400 center fuselages for the F-35 program. Northrop Grumman is a principal partner and teammate on the F-35 Lightning II industry team, that is developing, producing and sustaining three variants of this stealthy, supersonic, multirole fighter aircraft.
Northrop Grumman is a principal partner and teammate on the F-35 Lightning II industry team that is developing, producing and sustaining three variants of this fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Northrop Grumman performs a significant share of the work required to develop and produce the aircraft. Northrop Grumman produces the aircraft’s center fuselage, AN/APG-81 AESA radar, communications subsystems and provides sustainment support for the EODAS. Northrop Grumman also produces mission systems and mission-planning software and vehicle systems; leads the industry team’s development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware; and manages the team’s use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies.
With nearly 100,000 employees and over 30 million square feet of manufacturing space – more than 500 football fields – Northrop Grumman has the capacity, scale, and agility to drive innovation at unprecedented speeds. The company’s manufacturing approaches do more than just produce; they accelerate and enhance the entire process from design and development to production and testing. Northrop Grumman has invested in U.S. infrastructure, R&D, its workforce, and its supply chain to deliver today and tomorrow’s national security needs.
Northrop Grumman Corporation, headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia, is an aerospace manufacturer active in the arms industry and the space industry. The company is the 5th largest of the top 100 contractors of the U.S. federal government; it receives over 2% of total spending by the federal government of the United States on contractors. The company’s Aeronautics Systems division (29% of 2024 revenues) develops the B-21 Raider strategic bomber that can drop conventional and thermonuclear weapons (forecasted to be ready for combat in 2029), the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber (which will be replaced by the B-21), fuselage production for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-18 Super Hornet, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control, MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle, RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force.
