Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[Gatsby2]

Auf Wunsch eines einzelnen Herrn:

Northrop Grumman Corporation



Die Jahresperformance am Aktienmarkt kann man so là-là nennen, aber langfristig könnte Northrop Grumman durchaus Potential haben:



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Zur weiteren Recherche noch ein paar Links:

Company Homepage:
http://www.northgrum.com/

Jahresberichte und weitere Filings von der SEC:
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CI…

Für ältere Filings vor dem 03.04.2001:
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CI…

Disclaimer:

Wie üblich werden die meisten Nachrichten in englischer Sprache gehalten sein, wofür ich mich vorab entschuldige.

[Gatsby2]

Wo ich gerade von langfristigen Potentialen sprach: In der letzten Ausgabe von Forbes Magazine wurde Northrop Grumman zum Unternehmen des Jahres 2002 gekürt. Dazu gab es natürlich auch ein längeres Interview mit dem CEO, das unter einer etwas martialischen Überschrift einen netten Überblick über die Entstehungsgeschichte des heutigen Northrop Grumman Konzerns bietet.

Forbes Magazine
We see you, Saddam
Friday December 20, 6:03 pm ET
By Seth Lubove


After spending $26 billion on 16 acquisitions, Northrop Grumman`s Kent Kresa has reinvented his company for modern high-tech warfare.
The 2001 Gene Hackman flick Behind Enemy Lines was an otherwise forgettable testosterone-fueled action thriller that featured the usual two-dimensional bad guys and predictable plot lines. But to Kent Kresa, 64, it was the hit of the year--at least the 30-second scene that plugged a fictional version of technology purportedly made by Northrop Grumman, where Kresa is CEO.

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In the scene, which Northrop swears that it didn`t know about in advance, much less pay for, an actor playing a military technician tells Hackman that they`ve tracked a missing pilot`s radio signal. Then, using "imagery from a Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - News) relay satellite," they downlink the data to a "processing center in Stuttgart." In fact, Northrop didn`t even make satellites until Dec. 11, when it closed on its acquisition of TRW, for $10.7 billion (including debt). But even though the plot detail is bogus, Kresa is thrilled with how the movie illustrates the way he`s recast the company. Kresa sees Northrop as no mere supplier of individual weapons. It`s an integrator--linking data from satellites, drones and radar to weapons mounted on fighter jets, warships and guided missiles.

"When I saw that [scene], I said, ‘My God, this is the new Northrop Grumman,`" Kresa says. No more point and shoot: Targets move too quickly for that. The modern battlefield needs a hot link between the sensor and the shooter.

Just as in Hollywood, which he overlooks from his 19th-floor office in Los Angeles` Century City, Kresa has a great script. In it he becomes CEO in 1990 of a company that has one primary project: the bat-winged B-2 Stealth bomber, which was already riddled with cost overruns and controversy. Although he eventually gets the project on track, completing 21 of the menacing $500 million planes, Kresa faces the larger challenge of what to do once the B-2 program winds down. He could simply pay out the profits as dividends to shareholders and auction off what is left of the company.

Instead Kresa becomes the stalker. Beginning in 1994 with the purchase of Grumman, followed by 15 additional acquisitions that include Litton, Logicon, Westinghouse`s defense electronics business, Ryan Aeronautical, and Newport News Shipbuilding, Kresa builds the company into the U.S.` second-largest defense company (behind Lockheed Martin), with sales in 2003 expected to be $25 billion. No longer an also-ran making B-2s and military and commercial aircraft fuselages, Northrop now makes nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines, the Global Hawk unmanned plane, complex radar systems and many other tech-heavy military products.

Here`s the idea: A Northrop Grumman Global Hawk, buzzing at 20,000 meters, sends intelligence data to a laser-guided targeting device on the ground, which coordinates with an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet flying on a fuselage made by Northrop, all coordinated by computers and software linked together by Northrop`s systems integration unit. Borrowing a catchphrase from the computer business, the weapons designers say that their systems are made for "network-centric warfare." The connections are as important as the firepower at the end.

Whether Kresa`s vision has a Hollywood ending or Northrop ends up as yet another conglomerate buried under debt is where the story gets interesting. Despite increased military spending and talk of war with Iraq, shareholders have already had to eat a $160 million loss for the most recent nine months ($59 million in the third quarter), mostly because of writeoffs on various programs inherited by Northrop and lowered earnings forecasts for 2003 (before TRW). The stock is off 32% from its 52-week high of $135.

Kresa is fond of calling Northrop a company of corporate "immigrants," and that`s true now more than ever. Including trw, the company employs 120,000 people. Only 9,000 are original Northrop employees; another 7,000 are from Grumman. The rest have come through acquisitions, bringing disparate brand identities and ways of doing business. Getting all of them to think of themselves as Northrop employees working on the same battlefield is critical to justifying Kresa`s acquisition strategy; so is paying off the $9 billion of debt incurred or assumed with the acquisitions.

And Kresa himself won`t be around much longer to help. The task of getting all the pieces to work together for a greater good will most likely fall to Ronald Sugar, 54, Northrop`s COO, who is expected to succeed Kresa when he retires at the mandatory age of 65, in March. Sugar, who grew up on the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles before working his way up to executive positions at TRW and Litton, has his work cut out for him. "We pretty much have what we need to compete," he says. "All I have to do is make it work."

To do that he`s depending on managers like Scott Seymour, one of seven heads of Northrop`s primary business sectors, in this case, Integrated Systems. An amalgam of the original Northrop and Grumman aircraft businesses, Seymour`s sector also includes the old Ryan Aeronautical (maker of the Global Hawk), which Northrop acquired in 1999 from Allegheny Teledyne for $140 million.

Synergies? Here`s a small but illustrative one. At Seymour`s factory in El Segundo, California, where fuselages for Boeing`s F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets and wings for T-38 training jets are assembled, fluttering green, yellow and red flags are posted outside the mechanics` workstations. The flags are a quick, low-tech way to signal that someone needs help on a project: Green means okay; yellow and red mean help. The idea was borrowed from Northrop`s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, an acquisition that came by way of Litton. This and other gimmicks taken from the shipyard and various acquisitions have helped reduce the amount of time it takes Northrop to build an F/A-18 fuselage by 38%, to 160 days, an impressive time-saving, considering that each fuselage requires the precision-drilling of 72,000 holes. Each hole has to be drilled exactly right to prevent fatigue in the bolts and rivets that keep the aircraft intact under the severe stress of combat flying.

To get a sense of the task that Sugar faces in getting the entire company to work together as a seamless enterprise, consider what Northrop faced in getting the Litton shipbuilding businesses to work together. The two shipyards, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Pascagoula, are just 160 kilometers apart, they might be on different planets for all the cooperation they offered one another. Both vertically integrated shipyards ran their own engineering, purchasing and back-office functions. New Orleans, known as Avondale Operations, was computerized; much of Pascagoula still worked on paper. Pascagoula was unionized 40 years ago, New Orleans only recently--and only after years of labor strife.

"I`m not exaggerating when I say that there was not much progress to integrate the two yards," says Philip Dur, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who took over as head of Ship Systems in late 2001. Dur says that he has made enough progress that productivity increased at least 15% and cycle times have shrunk by 20% to 30%. "I`ve never been as busy in my life, nor have I ever been as challenged," says Dur, whose previous jobs included commanding the battle force of the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

The relatively simple task of creating a focused identity for the entire company has also taken on new meaning, as Northrop has attempted to corral its far-flung operations under the banner of Northrop Grumman. Nearly every unit has its own famous history and heritage. Ryan built Lindbergh`s Spirit of St. Louis. Newport News built many of the ships that helped win World War II. But although Kresa says that Northrop "honors the past," nostalgia is an expensive distraction for a company trying to reposition itself as a cohesive electronic entity.

In Newport News, Virginia, the integration is moving slowly. Scanning the skyline of the bustling shipyard along the James River, you wouldn`t know that anything has changed. The looming cranes feature the old Newport News name with the company`s historical nautical logo as do employees` business cards (though they now also feature Northrop`s name).

Thomas Schievelbein, the head of the Newport News division, cringes when the old logo is pointed out on his business card and pleads that the visitor not mention it to the people back in Los Angeles. He`s already had to fend off requests that he repaint one of his giant cranes with Northrop`s name. He says he`ll repaint when the old paint falls off.

That doesn`t mean that Schievelbein isn`t doing his part. Go past the ships in various states of construction, including the newest nuclear aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, and down to a new adjoining seven-story office building that`s in the shape of a ship. Inside the Virginia Advanced Shipbuilding & Carrier Integration Center, paid for by the state and managed by Northrop, Newport News is working with other Northrop divisions on various aircraft carrier integration projects. The group has designed a computer simulation program, for instance, that allows Northrop`s Integrated Systems aircraft division to see how a new unmanned, ship-launched drone would perform on the decks of one of the carriers built at Newport News. "This is the earliest that Newport News has been asked to be involved with an airplane manufacturer," says Irwin Edenzon, a Northrop vice president who oversees the research operation.

Whether Northrop can produce incremental revenues from the cooperation has yet to be seen. The real test will come when the company builds such projects as the navy`s DD(X), a collection of versatile next-generation destroyers, cruisers and combat ships armed to the teeth with advanced technology. A consortium headed by Northrop and Raytheon has been awarded a $2.9 billion contract to design and develop the destroyer, but the contract to build 16 of the vessels won`t be decided until 2005.

To accomplish the navy`s high expectations for the new ships, Northrop will have to bring several of its newly acquired cross-disciplines to bear. Already, for instance, engineers from the Ship Systems division, which is overseeing the DD(X), have collaborated with engineers from the Integrated Systems unit, who gained experience in radar-evasion technology and composite materials from their work assembling the B-2 Stealth bomber. At the same time, Newport News is working on the new, more efficient electric propulsion engines that will propel the ships.

Sugar figures that Litton, which competed for the early-design-phase contract, might not have gotten even that far, if Northrop had not acquired the company. "One problem is that Litton did not have management integration skills that would allow the navy to feel comfortable," says Sugar, who has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. "Northrop has that skill in large-scale systems integration."

Down the hall from Sugar`s office Kresa prepares to distance himself from the company that he brought back from the dead twice, the second time after a deal to be taken over by Lockheed fell apart in 1998 following antitrust objections. If he`s worried that his creation will stumble once he retires, Kresa isn`t showing it. Instead, he proudly shows off a model of the Ronald Reagan that in many ways represents the larger Northrop Kresa has created in the short span of eight years. The company makes the 90,000-tonne, 335-meter-long vessel and also has a hand in many of the planes that will line up on the decks: the F/A-18, F-14 Tomcats, E-2C Hawkeyes and many more.

"We`ve got it all," Kresa says with a smile.

[Gatsby2]

Interessant ist NOC gerade auch im Hinblick auf den europäischen Rüstungsmarkt. Dies nicht erst seit der praktischen Übernahme von HDW, sondern vor allem durch die enge Kooperation mit EADS, die sich auf der Paris Airshow sogar in einem gemeinsamen Stand niederschlug.

Eines der wichtigsten Projekte ist die gemeinsame Entwicklung von unbemannten Kampfflugzeugen, die in schon jetzt absehbarer das Ende der bemannten Kampfflugzeuge einleiten dürften:

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman, EADS Trans-Atlantic Cooperation Continues with Successful EADS Payload Demonstration on Global Hawk
Thursday December 19, 7:30 am ET


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany, Dec. 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News) and EADS highlighted important progress in their trans-Atlantic cooperative defense efforts with the first successful demonstration of an EADS electronics intelligence (ELINT) payload aboard a U.S. Air Force RQ-4A Global Hawk, built by Northrop Grumman`s Integrated Systems sector.

U.S. Air Force and German Ministry of Defense officials conducted the demonstration during flight tests Nov. 17 and 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The Edwards flight test team demonstrated the ELINT sensor`s ability to reliably disseminate information via data link from the sensor on board the UAV to the ground station in preparation for a Global Hawk ELINT demonstration scheduled for next spring in Germany.

``EADS and Northrop Grumman started the Euro Hawk initiative two-and-a-half years ago. We are proud to see how far this project has progressed since, and we are proud of our teams and their great work. Euro Hawk is fully supported by the U.S. and German air forces, and it will play a pivotal role in the future European intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance structure, including the recently launched NATO air ground surveillance program,`` said Dr. Thomas Enders, head of the EADS Defence & Civil Systems Division.

The Northrop Grumman and EADS system concept for Euro Hawk is based on Global Hawk. Euro Hawk conforms to the urgent German demand for airborne, long-range reconnaissance and surveillance. Euro Hawk is being developed as a candidate to replace the Breguet Atlantic 1150 signals intelligence (SIGINT) system that will be phased out of the German military beginning in 2008.

The system will be designed for high altitudes and long flight times for standoff reconnaissance and surveillance. Furthermore, a ground station for data evaluation will be developed for this reconnaissance system to meet German operational requirements.

Both organizations believe that Global Hawk and the Euro Hawk derivative signal a new trend in trans-Atlantic cooperation for the development of high-technology UAV systems. The trend is also symbolized by NATO`s recent response to Airborne Ground Surveillance (AGS). EADS and Northrop Grumman applauded NATO`s decision to include AGS as a key element of the Prague Capabilities Commitment at the recently held Prague Summit. These milestones represent major advances in the commitment to trans-Atlantic cooperation.

``The Global Hawk German ELINT demonstration illustrates our progress in cooperatively developing robust unmanned systems,`` said Scott J. Seymour, president of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. ``In the area of manned surveillance systems, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems and EADS, together with Galileo Avionica and Thales, have worked diligently to build consensus among NATO members in favor of an advanced AGS capability. NATO`s positive decision regarding AGS is a direct result of our combined efforts. This capability will be available for combined NATO operations, as well as autonomous European operations.``

EADS, in multinational cooperation, is currently developing the active SOSTAR radar sensor, and Northrop Grumman is prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force`s Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP). The two companies will work together to develop and build a next-generation radar sensor, leveraging where possible from both SOSTAR and MP-RTIP.

Encouraged by NATO leadership, Northrop Grumman and EADS, along with Galileo Avionica, have taken the industrial lead in this initiative by offering an approach called the Transatlantic Industrial Proposed Solution. This approach will provide a fully integrated solution to this critical surveillance requirement.

``These recent events clearly signal that balanced trans-Atlantic cooperation can be achieved,`` said Ralph D. Crosby, chairman and chief executive officer, EADS North America. ``Industrial collaboration serves both NATO and the EU by providing innovative solutions to emerging military requirements and by eliminating duplication of effort, particularly in the early phases of programs. We are pleased to be on a successful track in this regard.``

With revenues of 30.8 billion euros and a work force of more than 100,000 employees, EADS is a leading aerospace and defense company and the second largest company of this industry. It is one of the market leaders in defense technology, civil aviation, helicopters, space technology, military transport and combat aircraft, as well as related services. Furthermore, EADS holds stakes in the civil aircraft producer Airbus, the world`s largest helicopter producer Eurocopter, the space company Astrium and MBDA, the world`s second largest missile producer.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

[Gatsby2]

Tagesnachrichten gab es auch noch:

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Delivers First Software for the Joint Simulation System
Monday December 23, 3:43 pm ET


SUFFOLK, Va., Dec. 23, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- During a ceremony at the Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) in Suffolk, Va., last Friday, Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Mission Systems sector delivered Joint Simulation System (JSIMS) software version 1.0 to the Joint Forces Command (JFCOM). Northrop Grumman is part of the multicontractor JSIMS development team.
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A computer training tool, JSIMS is designed to interface with actual battle command computer and communication systems to enable warfighters from all branches of the military to rehearse missions and conduct exercises together in preparation for war and other contingencies. JSIMS development is part of an ongoing Department of Defense training transformation initiative.

``Completion and delivery of this initial software version is a crucial first step in the Department of Defense`s training transformation to help combatant commanders prepare for future conflict,`` said Brig. Gen. Stephen Seay, JSIMS program manager and commanding general of Simulation, Instrumentation and Training Command, or STRICOM.

The initial capability of JSIMS version 1.0 will allow combatant commanders to train their joint task forces commanders, services, functional components and staffs with future versions providing enhanced functionality for joint training and for specific service Title 10 and agency training needs.

``Our team is now focused on working with our joint service users over the next few months to make this great product even better as the warfighter prepares to begin system validation testing next year,`` said Seay. Initial operational capability testing is currently scheduled for the Unified Endeavor 04-2 joint training exercise at the JWFC in September 2004.

JSIMS interfaces with the various U.S. military command, control, computers, communications and intelligence systems used by the military services to create a shared synthetic environment capable of replicating the behaviors and interactions of forces and agencies for any given scenario. Within this virtual arena, commanders will be able to conduct realistic joint war-gaming exercises for all phases and types of military operations, including those that would be economically and logistically impractical to conduct in the real world.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $25 billion global defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com

[Micky_Maus]

Na, das paßt ja.

Hier noch die entsprechende Yahoo-Seite zum Profil von NOC:http://biz.yahoo.com/p/n/noc.html


Übrigens, das Money-Magazin zählt NOC zu den 7 besten Investments für 2003. Siehe:http://money.cnn.com/2002/12/18/pf/investing/beststocks2003/…

Das solls für dieses Jahr gewesen sein. Danke nochmal für diesen Thread, Gatsby.

Frohes Fest!

[Gatsby2]

WTC steel to be used in new U.S. warship
Saturday December 28, 12:07 pm ET


NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Recycled steel from the World Trade Center will be used to build part of a new U.S. warship, according to defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - News).

The ship is to be named the New York, in honor of the almost 2,800 people who died in the attacks of Sept. 11 2001, Dan Knecht, said a spokesman for the firm.

Steel is set to be shipped to Northrop`s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for construction to begin in the middle of next year. The 684-foot ship should be ready for service in 2007.

The recycled steel from the Twin Towers, if it meets quality standards, will be used to form the ship`s "stem bar", Knecht told Reuters. That is part of the ship`s bow, where the vessel cuts the water.

New York authorities face problems disposing of the 1.62 million tonnes of rubble that went to the nearby Fresh Kills landfill from the World Trade Center site.

Some memorial sculptures made from recycled steel have been commissioned by the city, and earlier this year nearly 20,000 tonnes of Trade Center scrap was shipped to India for use in construction projects.

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Photo Release -- New Aegis Destroyer to be Christened Chung-Hoon at Northrop Grumman
Friday January 3, 12:59 pm ET


PASCAGOULA, Miss., Jan. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Walter F. Doran, USN, will be the principal speaker for a ceremony here Jan. 11 honoring a Navy destroyerman as the U.S. Navy`s newest Aegis guided missile destroyer is christened at Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Ship Systems sector.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc

The new ship, designated DDG 93, will be officially christened with the name Chung-Hoon to honor Rear Adm. Gordon P. Chung-Hoon, (1910-1979), recipient of the Navy Cross for his courageous leadership after a devastating kamikaze attack in 1945 left several of his crew dead and his ship, USS Sigsbee (DD 502), severely crippled.

The public is invited to the christening, which begins at 10 a.m. CST. Bus transportation will be provided from the shipyard`s west bank parking lots. Guests are requested to be at Ingalls Operations by 9:15 a.m.

Chung-Hoon`s niece, Michelle Punana Chung-Hoon of Hawaii, has been selected by the Navy as Ship`s Sponsor for DDG 93, and will christen the new destroyer in his honor at the conclusion of the ceremony. The Matron of Honor is Nancy Holt of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Maid of Honor is Asti Punana Sorge` of Waianae, Hawaii, the sponsor`s cousin and daughter, respectively.

The U.S. Navy Band from New Orleans, La., will entertain guests before and during the ceremony. The Rev. Robert L. Kates, retired, First United Methodist Church, Pascagoula, will deliver the ceremony`s invocation. The Pascagoula High School NJROTC Color Guard will participate in the festivities as well.

In addition to Adm. Doran, ceremony participants will include Rear Adm. William W. Cobb Jr., USN, program executive officer for Theater Surface Combatants; Perry White, stepson of Rear Adm. Chung-Hoon; Capt. Philip N. Johnson, USN, supervisor of shipbuilding, conversion and repair, Pascagoula; and Dr. Philip A. Dur, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and president of the company`s Ship Systems sector.

In announcing his decision to name DDG 93 Chung-Hoon, then-Navy Secretary Richard Danzig remarked, ``The destroyer Chung-Hoon commemorates a triumph of the human spirit. Commander (later Rear Admiral) Chung-Hoon secured two victories by his courage and tenacity in the face of catastrophic damage to his own ship. The officers and crew of DDG 93 will proudly serve on a ship that bears this name.``

In the spring of 1945, Chung-Hoon, in command of Sigsbee, assisted in the destruction of 20 enemy planes while screening a carrier strike force off the Japanese island of Kyushu. On April 14, 1945, while on radar picket station off Okinawa, a kamikaze crashed into Sigsbee, reducing her starboard engine to five knots and knocking out the ship`s port engine and steering control. Despite the damage, Chung-Hoon valiantly kept his antiaircraft batteries delivering ``prolonged and effective fire`` against the continuing enemy air attack while simultaneously directing the damage control efforts that allowed Sigsbee to make port under her own power. He retired in 1959.

Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) is the 43rd ship in the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class of Aegis guided missile destroyers -- the U.S. Navy`s most powerful destroyer fleet.

DDG 93 is the 20th Aegis destroyer to be launched and christened of 28 ships under contract to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. The company`s first 17 Aegis destroyers have been delivered to the Navy and commissioned into fleet service. Two additional ships now in production in Pascagoula will precede DDG 93 into the fleet.

Construction of Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) began Jan. 17, 2001, and DDG 93`s keel was laid Jan. 14, 2001. Upon completion of outfitting, as well as dockside and at-sea testing and crew training, DDG 93 will be commissioned USS Chung-Hoon in 2004, and will be homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a member of the Pacific Fleet.

Northrop Grumman`s Ship Systems Sector includes primary operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.; and in New Orleans and Tallulah, La., as well as in a network of fleet support offices in the U.S. and Japan. Ship Systems, which currently employs more than 17,000 shipbuilding professionals, primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana, is one of the nation`s leading full service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $25 billion global defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

[Micky_Maus]

interessantes von Litton Kester Solder:http://www.kester.com/index_press-news.html

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Modifies LITENING Targeting and Navigation Pod to Establish Data/Video Link
Monday January 6, 9:00 am ET


ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Jan. 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Electronic Systems sector has successfully modified a LITENING Extended Range (ER) targeting and navigation pod to enable a data link between a U.S. Marine AV-8B aircraft and a ground station for a Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Modifications to the LITENING ER involved mounting a government-furnished equipment (GFE) data/video link transmitter compatible with the Pioneer UAV system in the pod, along with a commercial off-the-shelf transmit antenna. Operational evaluation flight missions of the AV-8B aircraft equipped with the modified LITENING pod were then conducted at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., where cockpit imagery from the pod was successfully relayed to a Pioneer ground station via the GFE transmitter. The modification took less than one month to complete and had no adverse effects on the normal functioning of the pod.

``Northrop Grumman is very proud of the government-industry teamwork that made this flight demonstration such a success,`` said Michael Lennon, vice president of Targeting and Surveillance Programs at Northrop Grummans Defensive Systems Division in Rolling Meadows. ``Our team effectively demonstrated how targeting imagery can be relayed to decision makers in real time. Fielding such a capability will greatly increase the situational awareness of our combat forces.``

LITENING ER is a self-contained, multisensor laser target designating and navigation system that enables fighter pilots to detect, acquire, track and identify ground targets for highly accurate delivery of both conventional and precision-guided weapons. LITENING ER features include a 640 x 512 pixel forward-looking infrared camera; charge-coupled device television; laser spot tracker/range finder; infrared marker; and a laser designator. In addition to being fielded on Marine Corps` AV-8Bs, LITENING pods are now in use on U.S. Air National Guard (ANG) and the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) F-16s and are operational with the Italian and Spanish navies.

Northrop Grumman`s Defensive Systems Division is a component of the company`s Baltimore, Md.-based Electronic Systems sector, a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense and commercial electronics and systems including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, air traffic control systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, logistics systems, and government systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Electronic Systems sector is available at: http://sensor.northropgrumman.com/

[Gatsby2]

BusinessWeek Online
Adaptive Aircraft: No Flight of Fancy?
Tuesday January 7, 8:39 am ET
By Jane Black in New York


As America prepares for a seemingly inevitable second skirmish with Iraq, U.S. defense forces are readying their most advanced aircraft -- F-15s, F-16s, and F-117s Stealth Fighters -- for what will likely be a war fought from the air. But are such planes good enough to defeat Saddam Hussein without endangering U.S. pilots?

Ronald Barrett, a professor of aerospace engineering at Auburn University in Alabama, is worried. The F-15 and F-16 designs are more than 30 years old, the F-117 more than 20. Not even the most sophisticated jammers can protect them when they fly into radar coverage. "It can pick them up too easily," says Barrett. "It`s like wearing a pink and purple jumpsuit into combat."

Any battle with Iraq will likely be over long before that changes, but Barrett and other aircraft engineers are nonetheless looking for ways to eliminate flaps and spoilers -- anything with a pronounced shape that radar can pick up -- on wings. The problem is such accoutrements are what make it possible for a plane to take off and land.

LIKE MOTHER NATURE. To reconcile the twin needs of stealth and airworthiness, researchers are working to embed adaptive materials into aircraft wings. When exposed to heat or an electromagnetic charge, these materials would morph -- or twist -- wings into the most aerodynamic shape for take-off, cruising, or landing, just as a bird manipulates its wings to lift itself into flight and soar. "Mother Nature has a lead of 3.8 billion years in R&D," says Barrett. "We`re working to integrate new muscle-type materials into everything from supersonic guided bullets and missiles to aircraft and helicopters."

The quest to create better wings has attracted aerodynamic experts from around the country as well as big guns at the Defense Dept. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [DARPA], best known for inventing the forerunner of the Internet, has dedicated $100 million to "smart materials" research. In December, DARPA launched a new morphing-wing program that aims to create "seamless, aerodynamically efficient aircraft capable of radical shape change," in the agency`s words.

DARPA also is funding Boeing`s smart rotor program, which uses adaptable materials to reduce both the dangerous vibration and noise of helicopter blades. And DARPA supports a research partnership with Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - News) and NASA that has developed and tested a so-called smart wing that uses adaptive materials to alter its shape. Tests in 1998 showed that the Northrop Grumman smart wing improved by 10% a plane`s "lift" [the aerodynamic force that keeps it airborne] and "rolling" [the ability to maneuver in mid-flight].

A CUE FROM THE PAST. An aircraft that morphs isn`t an outlandish goal. The Wright Brothers used a primitive version of "wing warping" to steer their 1903 biplane after observing birds soaring above the North Carolina dunes. To mimic the changing shape of the bird`s wings, the Wrights attached lines from the edge of the wings to a harness worn by the pilot, who steered the plane by shifting his weight from side to side. On the centennial of the first human flight, future aircraft design is taking a cue from the past.

To give wings the needed adaptability, researchers are experimenting with three kinds of smart materials: piezoelectric materials, which morph in the presence of an electric current; shape-memory alloys, which change shape in the presence of heat; and magnetostrictive materials, which alter themselves in the presence of a magnetic field.

The oldest and most commonly used are piezoelectrics, which were discovered in the 1880s by Pierre and Marie Curie and their colleague Paul Langevin. Piezoelectric crystals are widely used in consumer products that beep, such as microwaves, digital watches, and smoke alarms. A small electric charge causes the crystal to change shape, which in turn causes small speakers to sound off.

MANY BENEFITS. It wasn`t until the late 1970s, however, that engineers began to try to apply piezoelectric power to aircraft. Back then, plane designers were focused on reducing hazardous vibrations that might, for example, cause key pieces of an engine to come loose. Today, designers are more interested in a self-adjusting wing that maintains the most efficient angle relative to the surrounding airflow. Flexible wings would not only allow planes to maneuver better but they could also could reduce the wings` weight, enabling planes to fly longer on less fuel, carry more passengers, or hold more bombs.

The Boeing smart rotor program aims to make helicopter blades quieter and smoother by replacing mechanical parts with piezoelectric crystals. This could help eliminate mechanical failure caused by the intense vibrations of the rotor`s spinning -- a common cause of helicopter malfunctions and crashes. According to Boeing, which is partnering with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, smart actuation systems are too complex for commercialization. Research is continuing, however, and a flight test is planned.

Researchers have reasons to believe such a design will work. In a 1997 study at Auburn, Barrett and his students used adaptive materials to reduce the number of components in the helicopter`s rotor from 94 to 5, the weight of its flight-control components by 40%, and its gross weight by 8%. A flight test showed improved airspeeds of 18%.

WHIZ-BANG TECH. Today, Barrett is working on bringing his ideas to life. He believes that adaptive materials aren`t yet strong enough to be used for large, heavy airplane wings, so he prefers to work on smaller vehicles -- unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, and munitions. One of his most creative projects is designing adaptive materials that can be packed into winged bullets, turning each one into a tiny, self-directed aircraft.

"If there`s wind, sniper bullets can be blown 15 to 20 feet to the left or right, missing a target or hurting a civilian," points out Barrett. "We`re working on a class of bullet that is two orders of magnitude more accurate in any weather. It self-corrects every step of the way." [The details of his work are still under wraps.]

Such whiz-bang technology sets curious minds afire, so researchers take great pains not to hype it and turn adaptive materials into the next nanotechnology -- an advance whose performance has fallen far short of the promises that were made about it. Indeed, it may take a decade of research before morphing aircraft take to the skies, says Greg Carman, director of the University of California at Los Angeles` Active Materials Lab. Even the most advanced piezoelectric crystals and shape-memory alloys aren`t yet as powerful as the human bicep, which can easily rotate an arm 90 degrees, or a bird`s wing, which can arch and flap during flight.

"A POWERFUL FORMULA." For the near future, that means adaptable materials will probably be confined to helicopters and small aircraft. "The ideal unmanned vehicle is one that can do things that a human can`t tolerate -- sharp swoops and dives," says Richard Aboulafia, vice-president for analysis at aerospace and defense consultancy Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. "If adaptive materials can be used to improve maneuverability and stealth, that`s a powerful formula."

That`s the ultimate goal -- to improve military might without putting lives at risk. "We hope the science fiction of today will be the reality of tomorrow," says UCLA`s Carman. With any luck, the work DARPA is funding will bring that one step closer to reality.

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Press Release Source: Harris Corporation


Harris Corporation and Northrop Grumman Sign Reseller Agreement for Harris SecNet 11 Secure Wireless LAN Product
Wednesday January 8, 9:06 am ET


MELBOURNE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2003--Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS - News) and Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Information Technology Sector today announced that an agreement has been signed that allows Northrop Grumman IT to resell Harris SecNet 11(TM) Secure Wireless Local Area Network (SWLAN) products. Harris SecNet 11, certified by the National Security Agency`s Commercial COMSEC Endorsement Program (CCEP), is a revolutionary new product that enables military and government users to communicate multimedia information, including data, voice and video, through a secure wireless network at an unprecedented 11 Megabits-per-second (Mbps).
"This agreement provides Harris with a strategic government sales channel that is important to successfully marketing this revolutionary, first-of-its-kind product," said Roger Alexander, SecNet 11 product manager for Harris Corporation. "As a leading distributor of IT products and services to the U.S. Government, Northrop Grumman IT can open many new doors, allowing Harris to quickly reach many new customers."

Under terms of the agreement, Northrop Grumman IT will resell SecNet 11 products to its North American, COMSEC-approved customer base. These customers will be able to purchase the SecNet 11 PC Card, Access Point, Wireless Bridge, and Key Fill Cable for use in building their own secure, wireless networks.

"Our customers look to Northrop Grumman IT for value-added IT products and services that enable their organizations to maintain a technological edge through best-value solutions," said Richard Garifo, vice president of Enterprise Technology, Northrop Grumman IT. "This product fills an immediate need as the demand increases for secure wireless networks in many segments of the U.S. Government."

Through Northrop Grumman IT`s reseller network, the Type 1 SWLAN solution will be readily available to a host of government customers, from major military commands to law enforcement agencies and Homeland Security enterprises.

SecNet 11 completely eliminates the wires and bulky encryption devices traditionally required for communicating secret level data. Its Type 1 encryption capability secures the entire IEEE 802.11b packet, which provides secure communication of data and network header information (COMSEC and NETSEC) for all network layers. This ensures that traffic analysis cannot be performed on transmitted data. SecNet 11 supports the creation of SWLAN infrastructures in a variety of configurations, and allows forces to rapidly communicate secret-level multimedia information over a wireless network from the ground, sea, or air. SecNet 11 offers the benefits of untethered, communications-on-the-move for a broad range of applications, including intelligence distribution, en-route mission planning and rehearsal, video conferencing, dispersed wireless Tactical Operations Centers (TOCs), and connectivity for mobile forces to the Global Information Grid.

Orders for SecNet 11 can be placed through Northrop Grumman IT`s 1-800-321-OPEN Customer Service line.

Harris GCSD, one of five divisions within Harris Corporation, conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces and supports state-of-the-art, assured communications and information systems that solve the mission-critical communications challenges of its military and government customers, as well as provides the technology base for the company`s diverse commercial businesses. Harris Corporation, which also provides tactical radio, microwave, broadcast, and network support products and systems for government and commercial customers, has sales and services facilities in more than 90 countries. For more information, visit http://www.harris.com.

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Level 5 Zertifikation hätte Microsoft auch gern. :P Aber seltsamerweise liegen die Rüstungshersteller bei der Qualität immer weit, weit vorn...

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman IT Achieves Highest Engineering Rating, CMMI(r) Level 5
Thursday January 9, 12:13 pm ET


HERNDON, Va., Jan. 9, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- A unit of Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Information Technology (IT) sector has reached the Software Engineering Institute`s (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)* system engineering/software engineering level 5 rating.

Northrop Grumman IT`s Defense Enterprise Solutions unit obtained the CMMI level 5 rating by enabling efficient integration of the company`s system and software engineering processes as well as streamlining core and common processes across multiple programs. Use of these processes has directly contributed to meeting business objectives.

``This achievement puts Northrop Grumman in elite company worldwide,`` said Herb Anderson, president, Northrop Grumman IT. ``We will work closely with our customers to rapidly push these mature processes out to every government IT program and project where they can make a difference.``

Northrop Grumman IT processes control cost, schedule and quality performance with quantitative indicators, simultaneously ensuring timely corrective action if required. The result is predictable engineering milestones and customer satisfaction. Northrop Grumman IT has applied the CMMI common framework to measurably improve the company`s products and services.

CMMI level 5 is the highest possible rating, further validating the company`s number one ranking as a federal systems integrator according to Eagle Eye Publishing. CMMI is the recognized standard developed by a coalition of industry, government and the SEI to objectively assess the full range of an organization`s engineering capability.

SEI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. There are five levels of CMMI maturity, with the highest maturity level, level 5, indicating the lowest risk because of the better practices employed by the organization.

Northrop Grumman IT engineering programs that participated in the assessment include Automated Identification Technology; the Inventory Tracking System; Joint Engineering Data Management Information and Control System; and the Joint Primary Aircrew Training Systems Training Integrated Management System, among several others. The appraisal was conducted in accordance with the industry standard CMMI appraisal method for process improvement and led by an independent authorized and licensed lead evaluator from Integrated Systems Diagnostics, Inc.

Northrop Grumman Information Technology is a premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. Headquartered in Herndon, the company`s expertise spans such areas as information systems integration; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); enterprise hardware and software solutions; training and simulation; base and range support; signals intelligence; space systems; health informatics; and specialized scientific, engineering and technical services.

* Capability Maturity Model, CMM, and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.

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Reuters
TRW Automotive Rescinds Spin-Off Plans
Monday January 13, 2:13 pm ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TRW Automotive Inc. -- the auto parts unit of TRW Inc., which was acquired by defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) last month -- on Monday withdrew plans for its spin-off.

Northrop has agreed to sell a majority stake of the unit to New York private equity firm Blackstone Group in a cash and debt deal valued at nearly $4.73 billion.

In June, TRW Automotive had filed a prospectus with the SEC to register as much as $1.5 billion in common stock in a spin-off from the parent company.

"The company requests that the commission consent to this withdrawal request since the company has determined not to pursue the offering contemplated by the registration statement," TRW Automotive said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Northrop, the No. 2 U.S. defense contractor, is expected to retain approximately 20 percent in TRW Automotive after the close of the deal, which won clearance from U.S. antitrust authorities in late December.

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Dow Jones Business News
Massive Funding Package In The Works For TRW Auto Buyout
Wednesday January 15, 4:41 pm ET
By Nicole Bullock and Henry J. Pulizzi, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Bankers are starting to put together the financing for the $4 billion buyout of TRW Automotive, a package which is expected to include three types of debt and which will be sold on two continents.

The funding will be the first large acquisition financing in a year that promises more of these types of deals after an M&A uptick in later part of 2002. Investors are already awaiting the offer, which is expected to include a large, liquid bond issue for both the U.S. and the European high-yield markets. At issue will be the ultimate leverage in the deal, given the cyclical nature and uncertain outlook for the auto business.

"It should be a large, liquid benchmark name and there is a lot of cash in the market," said Ronald Bringewatt, a portfolio manager at TimesSquare Capital Management in New York. "That said, we would have to see the proposed capital structure and analyze the company`s product mix and growth prospects before opining on the quality of the deal."

The debt will help fund the Blackstone Group`s purchase of TRW Automotive, the eighth largest automotive supplier with 2001 sales of about $10 billion, for $ 4.13 billion in cash and equity. Blackstone is buying the business from Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) , which is buying TRW Inc. (TRW).

JP Morgan, Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are arranging the financing.

The preliminary structure includes $1.8 billion in loans, $1.4 billion in bonds and a securitization, whose size has yet to be determined, bankers said. The loans and bonds are expected to be mostly denominated in dollars, but will include euro tranches based on the demand out of Europe. It`s still unclear whether the securitization will include a tranche in euros.

Credit ratings haven`t been issued yet, but the debt is expected to carry junk ratings.

U.S., European Junk Bond Mkts Ready For Issuance

Premarketing on the bonds in Europe is said to be already underway. A formal roadshow for the high-yield bonds is expected to begin next week in Europe and the week after in the U.S. Pricing is expected in early February.

The company derives about half of its revenues from Europe and analysts say it will be keen to place as much debt as possible in the European market. But it`s unlikely that TRW Auto will be able to issue more than EUR300 million to EUR400 million in euro-denominated bonds, according to investors. Last year, the euro junk market`s biggest issue was only EUR350 million.

Secondary spreads for European junk bonds have tightened substantially in the last few months and the TRW Auto transaction should be seen as an early test of demand.

"With such a dearth of supply in the market, I would imagine it would come at an even yield with the dollar tranches," said one high-yield bond portfolio manager in Europe. "It would be the extraordinary credit that can`t get done in this market at this point."

Only 16 transactions totalling $3.7 billion came to the European primary market last year, a nearly 50% drop from 2001. That`s a sharp contrast from the U.S. market, which saw more junk bond sales in December than Europe did all year.

The high-yield market in the U.S. has been rallying for about three months and appears ready for yet more supply. According to the Merrill Lynch High-Yield Master II Index, the market shows a return of 3.5% so far this year and high- yield mutual funds started 2003 with inflows of over $1 billion, according to AMG Data of Arcata, Calif.

Internal Growth Potential But External Problems

Meantime, general syndication efforts for the TRW loan package are slated to begin the last week of January. The search for about six senior managing agents for the loans has already begun. The loans are expected to include a modest euro tranche, thanks to a recent uptick in demand from European funds for loan investments.

"We have definitely had reverse inquiries from European investors on the loans recently," said one banker involved in the deal. "There`s been a growing pool of money in Europe for loans from these types of large cap companies."

Indeed, a small euro-tranche was custom-made for European investors in last year`s Dex Media East funding package, bankers said.

While sources were mum on the leverage ratio on the company, bankers assured that the capital structure would take into account the cyclical nature of the auto business.

Martin King, an analyst with Standard & Poor`s, which doesn`t have public ratings yet on the new debt, said that TRW Auto is well-positioned even if the overall auto industry slows.

"It has a very diverse customer base for the auto industry, which tends to be very concentrated. It helps a supplier if it`s not so tied to one manufacturer," King said, noting that none of TRW Auto`s customers account for more than 25% of sales. Ford Motor Co. (F) and DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) are its largest customers, he said.

TRW Auto also makes products, such as antilock brakes, assisted steering devices and airbags, that are becoming more popular with manufacturers and, some of which, could be in more demand due to regulatory mandates.

"That should allow the company to grow internally given the challenges of the overall industry," King said. But he warned that "those challenges can`t be minimized."

Indeed, TRW Auto faces tough competition from Delphi Corp. (NYSEPH - News) and Bosch Automotive Systems and an uncertain outlook for demand and pricing.

Consumer demand for cars has been extremely strong over the past 12 months but it has been generated by some heavy discounting that has squeezed auto company profit margins. At the same time, there is some doubt that those demand levels can be sustained this year.

"There is some concern that 2003 could bring a significant falloff in demand because sales have been so strong in the past few years," King said. "Clearly, that will impact TRW Auto going forward."

Officials from TRW Auto and Blackstone declined to comment for this article.

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Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman`s Battlefield Digitization Unit Achieves CMMI Level 4 Rating
Thursday January 16, 11:42 am ET


CARSON, Calif., Jan. 16, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The battlefield digitization business of Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Mission Systems sector has received the Software Engineering Institute`s (SEI) Level 4 maturity rating against the newest standard for benchmarking the industry`s best practices.

Achieving this rating against SEI`s Capability Maturity Model-Integrated (CMMI)* standard places the business unit in the top tier of Department of Defense and other federal government contractor organizations.

``This was a tremendous team effort by the division,`` said Otto Guenther, vice president and general manager, Tactical Systems Division. ``We will leverage the success of this business unit to move the entire division to a CMMI Level 4 rating in the near future to better serve our customers.``

The battlefield digitization business within the company`s Tactical Systems Division earned a Level 3 rating just five months ago. It is scheduled this year for CMMI Level 5 assessment, SEI`s highest software maturity level.

The rating was achieved in a recent week-long appraisal at the company`s Carson, Calif.-based facility. The assessment was led by Jeff Facemire, appraisal team leader from Comskil, an external organization independent of Northrop Grumman.

``The synergy between Six Sigma and CMMI has been tremendous,`` said Facemire. ``Through Six Sigma projects, the battlefield digitization business unit has not only implemented the statistical process control needed for Level 4 but also made significant progress toward Level 5.``

Two software engineering programs participated in the assessment: the Tactical Internet Management System and Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) programs for the U.S. Army. Last year, FBCB2 was named one of the government`s ``Top 5 Quality Software Projects`` by CrossTalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. SEI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Defense Department and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. There are five levels of CMMI maturity, with the higher maturity levels indicating a lower risk because of the better practices employed by the organization.

The latest CMMI standard was developed by a coalition of industry, government and SEI to objectively assess the full range of an organization`s engineering capabilities. CMMI combines the process areas for software engineering, systems engineering and integrated product development into a single, more comprehensive model. Under the previous CMMI rating standard, these areas were assessed separately.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, based in Reston, Va., is a $3.5 billion global integrator of complex, mission-enabling systems and services for defense, intelligence and civil government markets. The sector`s technology leadership and expertise spans areas such as strategic systems, including ICBMs; missile defense; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; command and control; and technical services and training.

* Capability Maturity Model, CMM, and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Mission Systems sector is available at: http://www.ms.northropgrumman.com.

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Reuters
UPDATE - TRW Auto $1.4 bln junk bonds to be most since `01
Thursday January 16, 5:24 pm ET
By Jonathan Stempel


(Adds Moody`s rating action, details)
NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - TRW Automotive Inc., one of the world`s largest original equipment auto parts makers, plans to raise $1.4 billion early next month in the largest U.S. junk bond sale in nearly two years, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The sale of 10-year notes, expected on or about Feb. 6, would help private equity firm Blackstone Group finance its $4.73 billion purchase of a 58 percent stake in Livonia, Michigan-based TRW Auto from Northrop Grumman Corp.(NYSE:NOC - News).

Northrop, the Los Angeles-based defense company, is buying TRW Inc. for its defense business and spinning off TRW Auto.

TRW Auto may find good demand for its 10-year notes, at a time investors are showing more appetite for risk amid confidence the U.S. economy will improve.

"There have been good cash inflows into high-yield, and the size of the sale should not be an issue for TRW," said David Negri, a senior vice president at OppenheimerFunds in New York, who helps invest $6 billion. "They`re probably going to be well received as long as they don`t have a lot of leverage."

A $1.4 billion junk bond sale would be the largest from a U.S. issuer since cable TV operator Charter Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:CHTR - News) sold $1.5 billion of the bonds on May 10, 2001, according to Thomson Financial of Newark, New Jersey.

The junk bond sale is one of several being conducted for private equity firms making purchases. The buyers of textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Inc. plan this month to raise $650 million. The buyers of Qwest Communications International Inc.`s(NYSE:Q - News) phone book unit later plan a $1 billion or larger sale, after selling $975 million of junk bonds last year.

TRW Auto`s buyers plans to sell $1 billion of dollar- and euro-denominated senior notes, and $400 million of dollar- and euro-denominated senior subordinated notes, people familiar with the matter said. The euro notes will likely not account for more than 40 percent of the total, the people said.

The buyers are also lining up a $1.8 billion secured bank credit line and an $800 million accounts receivable securitization facility, credit rating agencies said.

JUNK BONDS GAIN

U.S. junk bonds have gained 3.21 percent on a total return basis this year, Merrill Lynch & Co. said.

Last week, meanwhile, investors poured $1.03 billion into junk bond mutual funds, AMG Data Services said. Investors are now willing to accept lower yields to take on credit risk.

The average U.S. junk bond yields 7.79 percentage points more than similar maturity Treasuries, down from 8.71 percentage points on Dec. 31, Merrill Lynch said.

Marketing for the bond sale should begin in Europe on Friday and in the United States on Jan. 23.

S&P on Thursday rated the bank line "BB," its second highest junk grade, and the notes "B-plus," two notches lower.

Analyst Martin King said TRW Auto`s ratings reflect the company`s "average business profile as a leading provider of automotive systems, combined with a below average financial profile, characterized by a heavy debt load and below average cash flow protection."

Late Thursday, Moody`s Investors Service rated the bank line "Ba2," equal to S&P`s "BB" rating. It rates the senior unsecured notes "B1," equal to S&P`s "B-plus" rating, and the subordinated notes "B2," one notch lower.

Both agencies` rating outlooks are "stable."

Banc of America Securities LLC, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers Inc. are arranging TRW Auto`s bond sale.

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Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Awarded $34 Million Contract for Missile Canister Conversion On SSGN Submarine Program
Friday January 17, 12:03 pm ET


BALTIMORE, Jan. 17, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Electronic Systems sector has been awarded a $34 million contract from the U.S. Navy`s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) to adapt the missile tubes of SSBN (fleet ballistic missile submarine) submarines from launching nuclear ballistic missiles to conventional cruise missiles.

The contract, which began in January 2003 and will continue through December 2004, covers systems development and demonstration of the Multiple All Up Round Canister (MAC). The reconfigured submarine will be known as the SSGN (guided missile submarine).

This contract for detailed design and prototype testing includes options for low-rate initial production leading up to full-rate initial production of up to four ship sets. If exercised, these options will bring the total cumulative value of this contract to more than $150 million.

``Northrop Grumman has been the primary supplier of underwater launch equipment to SSP since the inception of the ballistic missile submarine program in the 1950s,`` said Jim Hupton, vice president of Northrop Grumman Marine Systems. ``Our extensive experience and proven track record in the underwater launch market is strengthened by teaming with Electric Boat, the original submarine builder and platform conversion contractor for the SSGN program.``

Work will be performed at Northrop Grumman`s Marine Systems business unit in Sunnyvale, Calif., and at teammate General Dynamics` Electric Boat facility in Groton, Conn.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has overall responsibility for the SSGN conversion and has assigned responsibility for the attack weapons system (AWS) to SSP.

The MAC is a subsystem of the AWS that will replace the existing Trident ballistic missile launch tubes and provide for the storage and launch of up to seven TOMAHAWK ( missiles from each of the 22 submarine missile tubes. Each SSBN submarine will thus be able to accommodate as many as 154 precision-guided, conventional land-attack Tomahawk weapons.

Northrop Grumman recently completed the DEMVAL phase of the program, successfully testing, designing and fabricating test equipment and component risk reduction testing. This phase culminated in a successful full-scale Tomahawk test launch from an SSBN submarine using a prototype MAC in January 2003.

In addition to the SSGN mission of land attack, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is also supporting SSGN`s other operational mission, support of Special Operations Forces (SOF) campaigns and missions. Northrop Grumman`s Oceanic and Naval Systems business unit designs and builds the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), a mini-submarine intended to clandestinely carry SOF troops and their combat gear to and from hostile shores. It is planned that each of the four SSGNs will be modified to allow two ASDS vehicles to dock, enabling SOF deployment to littoral theaters worldwide.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense electronics systems including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, logistics systems, and automation and information systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Electronic Systems sector is available at: http://sensor.northropgrumman.com/

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Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Awarded $47.4 Million for Additional F/A-18 Structures Work
Wednesday January 22, 1:03 pm ET


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 22, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector has been awarded a $47.4 million contract by the U.S. Navy for continued production of replacement structural assemblies and spare parts for the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter that will extend the service life of aircraft operated by the U.S. Navy and the Canadian Defence Force.
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Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems will provide 37 ``center barrel`` fuselage sections and 12 engine nacelles for the Navy and 34 center barrels and spare parts for Canadian F/A-18s. The structural assemblies and spare parts are for the A/B/C/D models of the F/A-18.

The center barrel, a major section of the F/A-18`s fuselage, serves as the attachment point for the wings and main landing gear.

Work is to be completed by April 2007 and will be performed at Northrop Grumman`s Integrated Systems facility in El Segundo. This award follows previous contracts totaling $30.2 million for F/A-18 structural assemblies.

The combat-proven F/A-18 Hornet is a single- and dual-seat, twin-engine multimission tactical aircraft. Hornets are in service with the Navy and Marine Corps and the air forces of Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland and Malaysia.

As principal subcontractor to The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman has produced the center/aft fuselage section and twin vertical tails and integrated all associated subsystems for each version of the F/A-18 including the current production model, the Super Hornet.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: [/url]http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi[/url]

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Integrated Systems sector is available at: http://www.iss.northropgrumman.com.

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Reuters
Northrop Profit Up on Takeover Strategy
Tuesday January 28, 12:06 pm ET
By Mark Weinraub


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) said on Thursday its aggressive acquisition strategy led to higher quarterly earnings and would boost future profit as well.

The company, which makes war planes and ships and recently completed a $6.7 billion takeover of defense and auto parts maker TRW Inc., said fourth-quarter net income rose 71 percent, sending its shares up more than 3 percent.

Northrop reported strong results from all of its segments, with no cost overruns or other problems with government contracts muddying its earnings, said Paul Nisbet, defense analyst at JSA Research.

"The profit gains come from very good execution of their operations," said Nisbet, who has a "buy" rating on Northrop`s shares. "It is a well-managed company."

Northrop, maker of the B-2 bomber and the unmanned Global Hawk spy plane, said fourth-quarter profit rose to $224 million, or $1.72 per share, up from $131 million, or $1.28 cents a share, last year.

Sales rose to $4.8 billion from $4.1 billion.

The company said that, excluding gains and loss from discontinued operations. it earned $226 million, or $1.73 per share in the quarter. This compared with $195 million, or $1.93 per share, last year. The earnings per share decline was due to an increase in the number of shares outstanding, as more shares were issued to fund takeovers.

Excluding the effect of its pension funds, which have suffered during the bear stock market, Northrop said, it earned $238 million, or $1.83 cents a share. This compares with $156 million, or $1.53 cents a share, last year.

That was in line with Wall Street expectations, which forecast Northrop, the world`s largest shipbuilder, would earn between $1.56 and $1.73 per share, with an average of $1.66, according to research firm Thomson First Call.

Northrop said in the future it would not present its results excluding the impact of the volatile pension funds, a reporting method the company called "economic earnings." Since the financial scandals at Enron Corp. (Other OTC:ENRNQ.PK - News) and WorldCom Inc. (Other OTC:WCOEQ.PK - News; Other OTC:MCEQ.PK - News), companies have been under pressure to provide a clearer picture of operations.

Rival Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - News) also recently modified the way it publishes its profit report. Lockheed changed the way it accounted for pension expenses, stripping them out of segment operating results.

Northrop said it expected 2003 net earnings per share to reach between $4 and $4.50. The company had previously forecast 2003 earnings per share of $7 to $7.50, which excluded its pension funds.

Northrop`s stock, like many of it`s competitors, has risen since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States put a spotlight on the defense industry. The company has used its ascending stock price as a currency for acquisitions.

Northrop, the third-largest U.S. defense contractor, completed its takeover of TRW in December. TRW`s military space business gives Northrop key technology that could be used in a missile defense system.

The company also spent $2.1 billion for Newport News to build up its warship construction business. Sales at the company`s shipbuilding unit rose to $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter from $803 million last year.

Northrop`s stock rose $2.90, or 3.3 percent, to $91.29 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock dropped 22 percent in the fourth quarter as the company struggled with regulators to win approval for the TRW deal.

[Gatsby2]

Dow Jones Business News
Northrop Grumman Looks To Land Bigger Contracts
Tuesday January 28, 4:16 pm ET
By Ann Keeton, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Executives at Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) , which has rolled up several major acquisitions in the past two years, said the company " will limit M&A activity to portfolio shaping" this year.

The company commented on future plans on a conference call with analysts Tuesday afternoon.

Northrop Grumman now has defense equipment manufacturing capabilities that span undersea, sea, land, air, space and cyberspace, positioning it well for government plans for networking defense systems, the company said.

Kent Kresa, chief executive, said that with new acquisitions in place, Northrop can bid for larger, multibillion-dollar defense contracts, which should fuel double-digit top-line growth through next year and beyond. "We will have growth at a greater rate than the growth of the (defense) budget," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Northrop said it expects sales to rise to between $25 billion and $26 billion in 2003. In 2002, the company had sales of $17.2 billion, a 32% increase over 2001.

The sale of TRW`s automotive unit will close on schedule in the first quarter. Northrop`s recent acquisition of TRW`s other assets will be fully integrated into the company by the end of 2003, the company said.

Northrop said it ended 2002 with nearly $1 billion in cash available to pay down debt. The company is "getting into a rich man`s situation," Kresa said, and will decide in the next few months what to do with the cash. He said it hasn`t been decided whether that includes buying back stock.

Northrop expects to end 2003 with between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion in cash from operations. That number should increase to $1.5 billion in 2004 and $ 2 billion in 2005.

The company expects capital spending of $720 million in 2003.

Pension fund income of $90 million in 2002 will turn to an expense of $260 million in 2003, due to the poor performance of investments. The funds lost 9% in 2002. But, Kresa said "I`m sure the market now understands that this is not a value driver for us."

Defense contractors, including Northrop Grumman, are reimbursed by the federal government for pension costs and expenses.

[Gatsby2]

Das Meinungsbild zu Northrop Grumman ist derzeit bunt gemischt und reicht von "zuviel Schulden" bis "Unternehmen des Jahres". ... Das sagt Merrill Lynch:

Reuters
RESEARCH ALERT-Merrill adds Northrop Grumman to Focus list
Wednesday January 29, 12:00 pm ET


NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch on Wednesday said it added Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) to its Focus One List, saying December quarter results were slightly better than it had estimated.
The stock closed at $91.86 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

[Gatsby2]

Reuters
Northrop wins $307 mln contract for Global Hawks
Friday January 31, 6:04 pm ET


WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) won a $307 million contract to build six more Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned spy planes for the U.S. military, along with sophisticated sensors, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The contract calls for the Los Angeles-based company to build four more of the pilotless surveillance aircraft, three integrated sensor suites, two electro-optical infrared sensors and launch and mission control equipment for the Air Force.

The Navy would get two Global Hawk aircraft, two integrated sensor suites, one mission control element and two launch recovery elements under the contract, the Pentagon said.

It said the work would be completed by August 2005.

Northrop last year forecast a boom in the market for unmanned aerial vehicles and said by 2020 it could sell 250 to 300 Global Hawks to the U.S. government and a range of international customers such as Japan and Australia.

Global Hawk flies flies at about 65,000 feet, (20,000 metres), sweeping the ground with a powerful radar and cameras and relaying the pictures back to command posts, at a cost of just under $50 million each.

The program is due to begin full production in fiscal 2006.

The planes were thrust into the limelight in the U.S. war in Afghanistan, helping provide soldiers on the ground with more precise and accurate information about the battlefield.

[Gatsby2]

Reuters
US Sues Northrop Shipbuilding Unit for Overcharges
Monday February 3, 3:27 pm ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday filed suit against Newport News Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News), alleging it overcharged the Navy by $72 million for work on contracts from 1994 to 1999.

The Justice Department said Newport News, which Northrop acquired in November 2001, charged the Navy for independent research and development costs associated with double-hulled tankers it was building for commercial customers.

Los Angeles-based Northrop had no immediate comment on the charges, which were filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Justice Department said the Virginia-based shipyard passed more than $72 million design and development costs for the commercial tankers on to the Navy through as overhead on major Navy shipbuilding contracts.

In its complaint, the government said Newport News charged the Navy for those costs, even after being warned in 1995 by senior staff and by its outside consultant, Arthur Andersen & Co. that its charges could violate the False Claims Act.

Under the False Claims Act, the United States may recover three times the amount of its losses plus civil penalties.

"This suit illustrates the determination of the United States to recover funds inappropriately billed on defense contracts," said Robert McCallum, assistant attorney general for the department`s civil division.

The investigation into the alleged overcharges was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and auditors from the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

Northrop Grumman last week said its aggressive acquisition strategy, including the $2.1 billion acquisition of warship building Newport News, helped boost its fourth-quarter net income.

Northrop shares were trading 99 cents higher at $92.40 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

=================

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman IT and BEA Systems Form Strategic Alliance
Monday February 3, 8:30 am ET


HERNDON, Va., and SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Information Technology (IT) sector and BEA Systems, Inc. (NasdaqNM:BEAS - News), the world`s leading application infrastructure software company, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance to collaboratively pursue new business opportunities in the federal information technology market.

Under the terms of the agreement, BEA and Northrop Grumman IT will work cooperatively to identify and pursue new business opportunities principally involving information technology programs. The companies will establish cross-functional business development and technology teams to focus their core competencies on existing and emerging opportunities, identifying process improvements and exchanging best practices.

Northrop Grumman IT`s principal business areas, including Information Systems, Enterprise IT Solutions, C4ISR, and others, will have access to the BEA WebLogic Enterprise Platform(tm) application infrastructure technology and products under the terms of the alliance agreement. Northrop Grumman IT, with a customer base spanning the U.S. Department of Defense, civil government and national intelligence agencies, as well as state and local governments, will lead the relationship.

``The alliance enables government agencies to draw on the combined expertise of both companies,`` said Tom Wilson, vice president, strategic alliances, Northrop Grumman IT. ``This alliance positions our companies to deliver our strong capabilities and integrated services to customers, providing greater operational efficiency and enhanced customer service.``

``This alliance is a win-win for both companies and the U.S. government customers we serve,`` said John Gray, vice president of global alliances, BEA Systems. ``As our customers increasingly seek commercial off-the-shelf technologies for their complex systems requirements, this alliance can enable BEA Systems and Northrop Grumman IT to offer technically proven, cost-effective solutions to the U.S. military and civil government agencies.``

Northrop Grumman Information Technology, headquartered in Herndon, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company`s expertise spans such areas as information systems integration; information technology security; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); enterprise hardware and software solutions; training and simulation; base and range support; signals intelligence; health informatics; space systems; and specialized scientific, engineering and technical services.

BEA Systems, Inc. (NasdaqNM:BEAS - News) is the world`s leading application infrastructure software company, providing the enterprise software foundation for more than 13,000 customers around the world, including the majority of the Fortune Global 500. BEA and its WebLogic(r) brand are among the most trusted names in business. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., BEA has 81 offices in 34 countries and is on the Web at http://www.bea.com.

=================

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Selected by DARPA to Demonstrate Synthetic Aperture Ladar for Tactical Imaging (SALTI)
Monday February 3, 9:00 am ET


BALTIMORE, Feb. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Systems Development and Technology (SD&T) Division has been awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design, build and conduct a proof-of-concept airborne demonstration of a synthetic aperture ladar sensor that generates high-resolution two- and three-dimensional imagery.
ADVERTISEMENT


``SALTI is a strategic win for Northrop Grumman, since it greatly enhances our portfolio of coherent laser technologies,`` said James F. Carlini, director of Advanced Technology for the SD&T Division. ``Coherent laser systems will enable the warfighter to do extremely high-resolution imaging, identify targets through vibrometry, and provide very wide bandwidth communications throughout the battlespace.``

The 27-month SALTI contract, valued at $20 million, will be managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory`s Sensors Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, which is serving as technical and program execution agent for DARPA`s Advanced Technology Office.

Key subcontractors on the SALTI program include Coherent-DEOS of Bloomfield, Conn., and Rockwell Scientific of Thousand Oaks, Calif.

The SD&T Division is a component of Northrop Grumman`s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems sector, which is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense and commercial electronics systems, including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, logistics systems, and government systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Electronic Systems sector is available at: http://sensor.northropgrumman.com/

[Gatsby2]

Dow Jones Business News
EU OKs Blackstone Group Takeover Of TRW Automotive
Tuesday February 4, 5:47 am ET


BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The European Union Commission Tuesday cleared U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group`s takeover of auto parts maker TRW Automotive Inc.
Blackstone is paying $4.73 billion in cash and equity for a 58% stake in TRW Automotive.

Blackstone is buying TRW Automotive from defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) , which is spinning off the auto unit following its purchase of parent company TRW Inc.

Northrop is expected to retain about 20% in TRW Automotive. It will use the proceeds of the sale to reduce debt.

U.S. antitrust authorities cleared the deal in December 2002.

TRW is the eighth-largest automotive supplier, with 2001 sales of about $10 billion. It produces antilock brakes, assisted steering devices and air bags. Clients include Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG .

TRW Auto faces stiff competition from Delphi Corp. (NYSEPH - News) and Bosch Automotive Systems Corp. .

The deal was approved under the E.U. Commission`s simplified antitrust procedure. This clears mergers or acquisitions after one month if no objections have been raised by third parties.

[Gatsby2]

Reuters
UPDATE - TRW ups junk bond sale to $1.575 bln
Thursday February 6, 8:49 am ET


(New throughout, previous London)
NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - TRW Automotive Inc. has boosted the size of its junk bond sale by 13 percent to about $1.575 billion to meet investor demand, and cut yields, people close to the sale said on Thursday.

The sale by the Livonia, Michigan-based company, expected on Thursday, will help private equity firm Blackstone Group finance its $4.73 billion purchase of a 58 percent stake in TRW Auto from Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News). The European Commission said on Tuesday it approved the merger, following similar approval on Dec. 31 by the U.S. Justice Department.

At $1.575 billion, the sale of 10-year notes denominated in dollars and euros, which was once expected to total $1.4 billion, would be the largest junk bond sale by a U.S. issuer since cable TV operator Charter Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:CHTR - News) raised $1.75 billion in Jan. 2001.

"This (TRW Auto) is a bread-and-butter type of issuer in high-yield," said Sandy Rufenacht, who runs the $750 million Janus High-Yield Fund in Denver and was planning to buy TRW Auto`s notes. "It has a lot of debt that it can pay off, it has a good equity sponsor and it has a solid management team that really understands its products."

TRW Auto plans to sell $925 million of senior notes yielding 9.375 percent, after planning to sell $750 million to $850 million of the notes at a roughly 9.5 percent yield.

It also plans to sell $300 million of senior subordinated notes yielding about 11 percent. Earlier, it planned to sell $250 million to $300 million of the notes yielding 1.75 to 2 percentage points more than the senior notes, or an equivalent 11.25 to 11.5 percent.

TRW will also sell 200 million euros of senior notes yielding 10.125 percent, after earlier planning to sell 200 million to 250 million euros of the notes at a roughly 10.25 percent yield.

Finally, it plans to sell about 125 million euros of senior subordinated notes yielding 11.75 percent. Earlier, it planned to sell 100 million to 150 million euros of the notes yielding about 2 percentage points more than the senior notes, or about 12.25 percent.

Banc of America Securities LLC, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers Inc. are arranging the sale.

Junk bonds, which carry high yields to reflect credit risk, have in 2003 been the best performing U.S. fixed-income class, gaining 2.95 percent on a total return basis, Merrill Lynch & Co. said.

Northrop, which is based in Los Angeles and is the No. 2 U.S. defense contractor, bought TRW for its defense business and said it would sell or spin off the auto parts business. Blackstone has said it may conduct a public offering of TRW Auto shares in the coming years.

Moody`s Investors Service rates the senior notes "B1," its fourth-highest junk grade, and the subordinated notes "B2," one notch lower. Standard & Poor`s rates all of the notes "B-plus," its fourth-highest junk grade.

[TMMaster]

Frage mich, warum Northrop, wie auch andere Defense Werte, nicht auf die Beine kommt.
Bei der derzeitigen politischen/geopolitischen Lage müssten sie doch das Geschäft ihres Lebens erwarten.

Bei CNN gab sich der CEO vor einigen Tagen auch sehr optimistisch und zufrieden, nachdem NOC die Analystenerwartungen übertroffen hatte.

Bei Boeing will ich ja nichts sagen, da sie auf zuvielen Hochzeiten tanzen, aber General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin & Co kommen ebenfalls kaum voran.

Haben die Leute tatsächlich moralische Skrupel ? Kann´s mir ehrlich gesagt kaum vorstellen.

Friedensdemo + LMT im Depot ist IMO bei manchem nicht sooo aus der Luft gegriffen.


Grüße

tmm

[Gatsby2]

@TMM

"Friedensdemo + LMT im Depot ist IMO bei manchem nicht sooo aus der Luft gegriffen."

Der Satz war echt ein Volltreffer, und ich hab das im RL schon bei einigen erlebt.

Ansonsten: US-Rüstungswerte sind bereits extrem hoch bewertet (das langjährige Branchen-KGV liegt zwischen 15 und 19), und auch eine anstehende militärische Auseinandersetzung vermag nicht wirklich Hoffnung auf Besserung zu versprechen.

Grund: ein Out-of-Area Einsatz verlangt extrem hohe logistische Aufwendungen, die zwangsläufig auch aus dem Budget des Pentagon kommen müssen. Diese Logistik wird aber nicht von den Defence Contractors, sondern aus der Privatwirtschaft zugekauft, und die Mittel stehen hernach für die Beschaffung nicht mehr zur Verfügung.

Im übrigen liegt das zivile Raumfahrtgeschäft vollkommen auf der Nase, was sowohl BA als auch LMT hart trifft. Bei BA kommt erschwerend die zivile Luftfahrt hinzu, die das militärische Geschäft nicht zu kompensieren vermag.

Die Zukunft liegt wohl in der Systemintegration (LMT, RTN, LLL), aber für die Gegenwart würde ich das derzeitige Säbelrasseln nicht überbewerten.

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Selected by U.K. Ministry of Defence for Next Phase of WATCHKEEPER Unmanned System Development
Friday February 7, 8:43 am ET


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News) has been selected by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence to continue its development of WATCHKEEPER, a network-enabled unmanned system that will deliver an integrated image intelligence, targeting and exploitation capability to meet the U.K. commander`s critical information needs.

The WATCHKEEPER program has a potential value of more than $1.2 billion (800 million Pounds).

The Northrop Grumman industry team is led by Northrop Grumman ISS International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, and includes a combination of U.S. and U.K. companies. The team recently completed the system definition phase of WATCHKEEPER and will now continue with the system integration and assurance phase. The team has been working closely with the Ministry of Defence for two years to define a solution that fills the U.K. warfighter`s need for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) with a balanced approach to deliver the best capability at the lowest risk.

``The Ministry of Defence`s selection of the Northrop Grumman industry team recognizes the validity of the network-centric, system-of-systems approach we have proposed for the WATCHKEEPER program,`` said Marty Dandridge, executive vice president and general manager, Unmanned Systems. ``As we enter this critical phase, our experience in integrating proven unmanned systems will be critical to the design of a robust system that is flexible and agile enough to meet the evolving requirements of our U.K. customer.``

Northrop Grumman is evaluating several unmanned systems to meet the requirements of the WATCHKEEPER systems architecture, including the U.S. Navy RQ-8A Fire Scout system presently in the flight test phase of engineering and manufacturing development.

Northrop Grumman`s international industry team includes the company`s Electronic Systems sector, Baltimore, Md.; its Information Technology sector, Herndon, Va., and Northrop Grumman IT Europe, based in Southampton, U.K.

General Dynamics U.K. Ltd., St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, provides world-class expertise in U.K. battlefield digitization; and STASYS, Farnham, Surrey, supports concept of operations, operational analysis and U.K. Army doctrine. U.K.-based Detica Limited, Guildford, Surrey, provides requirements assessment and analysis. Ultra Electronics, Greenford, Middlesex, is the leading developer in the U.K. of datalink systems analysis and definition.

General Dynamics U.K. Ltd. is responsible for the ground control segment. General Dynamics brings expertise as prime contractor for the U.K.`s BOWMAN C4I program, principal supplier for the ASTOR ground station, as well as its extensive work in the U.K.`s battlefield digitization initiative.

``As the WATCHKEEPER Ground Element integrator, General Dynamics will build on the company`s recent successes in BOWMAN, Digitization and ASTOR. We intend to deliver programs that enhance synergy through a networked approach in the U.K. battlespace to optimize the benefit to both the MoD and to our rapidly growing C4ISTAR business,`` said Larry Johnson, president and managing director of General Dynamics UK Ltd.

Northrop Grumman will continue to build on an extensive modeling and simulation environment to evaluate and refine the WATCHKEEPER capability. To that end, it has entered discussions with BAE SYSTEMS to join the Northrop Grumman-led team. BAE SYSTEMS` participation would augment the team`s synthetic environment capability in the area of U.K.-centric operations.

Northrop Grumman`s focus on command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) is key to interoperability with other U.K. and NATO ISTAR assets such as ASTOR, Attack Helicopter and maritime forces.

``Our team is committed to work in partnership with the MoD,`` said Ralph Starace, Northrop Grumman WATCHKEEPER program manager. ``We continue to explore world-class industrial capability that can further complement our team`s strengths and offer the best value to our customer.``

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $25 billion global defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

[TMMaster]

O.K., sagen wir so: Der Satz entbehrt nicht einer gewissen Provokation :-)

Lokheed ist vielleicht etwas übertrieben, aber ich möchte nicht wissen, wieviele Leute Daimler besitzen (demnächst kommt bestimmt eine S Klasse, die auch Landminen aushält...)

Die Argumentation mit der Bereitstellung ist mir ein wenig zu sehr "von hinten durch die Brust". Nach dem 11. September zeichnete sich eine militärische Reaktion mit ähnlichen logistischen Anforderungen ja auch ab - und da sah der Sektor doch sehr gut aus.

General Dynamics ist auch so brutal abgestürzt - das kann man schon fast nicht mehr mit ansehen.


<Im übrigen liegt das zivile Raumfahrtgeschäft vollkommen auf der Nase>
Das stimmt natürlich absolut. Boeing - klar. Unlogisch finde ich dagegen wieder die Performance von ATK. Alliant hat es nach dem Space Shuttle Unglück mit am schwersten erwischt, obwohl die doch mit dem Chassis gar nichts zu tun haben. Selbst Boeing kam vergleichsweise besser weg - verkehrte Welt.

Naja, wenn man der Sache etwas Positives abgewinnen wollte, könnte man zumindest behaupten, die Kurse laufen deshalb so schlecht, weil bereits beschlossen ist, dass Saddam tatsächlich von selbst geht.

Aber dazu muß man wohl schon ein beinharter Optimist sein.

Grüße

tmm

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.

@TMM,

Du hast durchaus Recht mit der Aussage, auch im ersten Golfkrieg seien die Kurse gut gelaufen, aber wenn ich es richtig in Erinnerung habe, gingen die Kurse hoch, bevor das Schiessen begann. Während der Kampagne gab es noch ein paar Prozentchen, und dann ging`s für viele ganz steil abwärts. Kein Wunder, denn die (extrem teuren) Lenkwaffen, werden meist vor einem Konflikt gekauft, während sich die Ersatzbeschaffung in ruhigeren Bahnen vollzieht.

Der Absturz von GD hat mich eigentlich kaum überrascht, denn General Dynamics ist in einer ähnlichen Situation, wie seinerzeit Siemens, über die gesagt wurde, sie seien "eine Bank mit Elektroabteilung". -- GD sitzt auf einem fetten Geldsack, aber sie machen nichts damit, während die anderen die Aufträge einsacken.

Anders bei NOC, die zwar durch die aggressiven Acquisitionen der letzten Jahre einen Haufen Schulden haben, dafür aber auch nette Umsatzsteigerungen vorweisen können.

Neue Aufträge gab`s auch:

Northrop Grumman Announces Contract for Work on Nuclear-Powered Submarine USS Minneapolis-St. Paul
Tuesday February 11, 9:00 am ET


NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News) announced today that it received a contract award for dry docking work on the nuclear-powered submarine USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (SSN 708). The work will be performed at the Newport News sector in Newport News, Va.

The contract, valued at approximately $23 million, will include replacement of the tail shaft, removal and overhaul of the main and auxiliary sea valves, inspection and repair of all external and internal tanks, miscellaneous repairs to torpedo systems and inspection and repairs to the sail, pressure and non-pressure hulls. It has been nearly 10 years since Newport News was awarded a contract for this type of availability.

``This contract will help re-establish Newport News as another key resource to the Navy for large complex submarine fleet maintenance work in addition to the Tiger Team work that we already perform,`` says Becky Stewart, program director, Surface Ship and Submarine Fleet Maintenance.

The ship is scheduled to arrive at Newport News in mid-February and the performance completion is scheduled for mid-June.

Northrop Grumman Newport News, headquartered in Newport News, Va., is the nation`s sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of only two companies capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines. Newport News also provides after-market services for a wide array of naval and commercial vessels, and has the capability to design, build and maintain every class of ship in the U.S. Navy`s fleet. The Newport News sector employs about 18,000 people.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Newport News sector is available at: http://www.nns.com.

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Receives $302.9 Million for Next Global Hawk Production Lot
Tuesday February 11, 8:30 am ET


SAN DIEGO, Feb. 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector has been awarded a $302.9 million fixed-price-incentive-fee contract modification by the U.S. Air Force`s Aeronautical Systems Center to provide for the second low-rate initial production lot of the Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance system.

The contract includes delivery of four Global Hawk air vehicles, three integrated sensor suites, two electro-optical infrared sensors and one launch and recovery element for the Air Force as well as two air vehicles, two integrated sensor suites, two launch and recovery elements and one mission control element for a planned 2005 maritime demonstration by the U.S. Navy.

Work under this contract will be performed by the company`s Unmanned Systems unit in San Diego and completed in 2005. Additional funding for the Navy`s Global Hawk maritime demonstration will be provided under separate contracts and executed by the Unmanned Systems unit and the sector`s Airborne Early Warfare and Electronic Warfare unit in Bethpage, N.Y.

Since the program began in 1995, Northrop Grumman has received more than $1.6 billion in contracts for Global Hawk design, development, testing and production. The first production vehicles will be delivered later this year.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

[Gatsby2]

Dow Jones Business News
Northrop Grumman Sees 2004 Sales $28 Billion-$29 Billion
Wednesday February 12, 8:18 am ET


LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) expects 2003 sales to beat analysts` estimates but warned that earnings for the year could miss the consensus view.
In a press release Wednesday, the defense contractor said it anticipates 2003 earnings, under generally accepted accounting principles, of $4 to $4.50 a share, with sales of $25 billion to $26 billion.

Wall Street currently expects Northrop Grumman to earn $4.19 a share for the year, on sales of $22.99 billion, according to Thomson First Call.

The company also projects 2003 cash from operations of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion before taxes.

Northrop Grumman issued the outlook in advance of an institutional investor conference to be held Thursday.

In 2002, the company posted earnings from continuing operations of $697 million, or $5.72 a share, on sales of $17.21 billion.

Northrop Grumman predicted 2004 sales of $28 billion to $29 billion, in line with guidance issued last month, and 2005 sales of $30 billion to $32 billion.

A Thomson First Call survey of six analysts produced a mean sales estimate of $28.02 billion for 2004. An estimate for 2005 wasn`t yet available.

Northrop Grumman also said it expects cash from operations of $1.5 billion or more in 2004 and about $2 billion in 2005, increasing thereafter.

The company plans to provide additional revenue and margin rate guidance for each of its sectors at the investor conference.

New York Stock Exchange-listed shares of Northrop Grumman closed Tuesday at $ 91.40, down 41 cents, or 0.4%. The stock hit a 52-week high of $135 on June 19 and a 52-week low of $87.20 on Nov. 18.

Company Web site: http://www.northropgrumman.com

================

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman`s Fire Scout UAV Completes Four-Hour Flight -- Longest Yet
Wednesday February 12, 11:00 am ET


SAN DIEGO, Feb. 12, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector continued its successful envelope expansion of the U.S. Navy Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned system with a four-hour mission Feb. 8, the longest flight test to date. Northrop Grumman now has conducted more than 35 flights in the ongoing test demonstrations since May 2002.
The latest mission demonstrated fully autonomous operations from engine start through takeoff, waypoint navigation, approach and landing, followed by engine shutdown. Flights are conducted at the Webster Field annex of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

During the mission, which was operated from the Navy ground control station, the tactical control datalink was used to uplink payload command and control and to downlink imagery. The ARC-210 datalink was used for air vehicle command and control. The ability of the operator to redirect the air vehicle in flight also was demonstrated as planned. Throughout the mission, the Fire Scout air vehicle successfully demonstrated three loiter patterns, 20 loiters and 60 waypoints under autonomous navigation.

The Fire Scout payload, supplied by Northrop Grumman`s Electronic Systems sector, Baltimore, Md., operated throughout the mission. The payload consists of electro-optical and infrared sensors and a laser designator/rangefinder, which provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery and data.

The Fire Scout`s communications suite is designed to allow simultaneous voice/data relay much farther than the ``line of sight`` limits of current systems. This communications relay suite is part of the standard air vehicle configuration, and does not reduce the available capacity for primary mission payloads.

The Fire Scout system is in development and low-rate initial production by Northrop Grumman as a force multiplier for Navy forces at sea and Marine Corps forces ashore. Fire Scout can operate up to 20,000 feet, above deployed Marines and provide the capability to watch for threats within 150 nautical miles of the ground control station. The system can direct Navy and Marine weapons accurately to the target with precise target location coordinates or the laser designator.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

=================

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract for Maritime Surveillance Demonstration
Wednesday February 12, 8:30 am ET


El SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 12, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector has been awarded a contract to modify and prepare two Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance vehicles and associated ground and support equipment for the U.S. Navy Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) program.

The level of work required through 2006 could bring the value of the GHMD to as much as $185.2 million, though the final details of the cost-plus-award-fee contract have not been finalized. The contract was awarded and will be managed by the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on behalf of the U.S. Navy. There are options that could extend the contract through fiscal year 2009 at a total potential value of $318.5 million.

``This demonstration will employ the technical expertise of two Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems business units to provide a cost-effective solution that meets our Navy customer`s needs,`` said Martin E. Dandridge, executive vice president and general manager, Unmanned Systems. ``Integrating maritime sensors with Global Hawk`s high-altitude, long endurance capability will provide strong, persistent surveillance to meet the Navy`s critical requirements.``

The objective of the Navy`s demonstration is to accelerate and refine the development of Naval UAV Concept of Operations and experimentation. The program will leverage Air Force contracts to procure two Global Hawk UAVs, and associated ground control equipment as part of the maritime demonstration program.

Two Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems` business areas -- Unmanned Systems, San Diego, Calif., and Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems, Bethpage, N.Y. -- will perform the work under this contract.

As the prime contractor for Global Hawk, Unmanned Systems will modify two Global Hawks and integrate the maritime system for the demonstration under an amendment to the current Air Force low-rate initial production contract.

Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems will design and develop advanced maritime payloads, provide mission management functions and develop new ground station and shipboard control systems that are specific to the Navy.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise. Integrated Systems has the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support complete systems, as well as airframe subsystems, for airborne surveillance and battle management, early warning, airborne electronic warfare and air combat aircraft. It is also integrating these capabilities for emerging network-centric warfare concepts.

[TMMaster]

Was hälst Du derzeit - fundamental- von Lockheed ?

Technisch finde ich sie sehr interessant. Die Indikatoren sehen reizend aus wenn man nach mittelfristigen Trendumkehrpunkten sucht. (MACD/Bollinger, Stochastik usw.)
Im Vergleich zu Northrop Grumman haben sie stärker gelitten, evtl. auch durch den Shuttle Absturz, aber langfristig heilen solche Wunden ja meist wieder.

Sehe auch zum ersten mal ein positives PE Ratio.

Aber sehr unangenehm finde ich ein Debt/Equity Ratio von 1.3.
Sowas kaufe ich normalerweise ungern.


Grüße
tmm

[Gatsby2]

@TMM ... sorry für die späte Antwort, aber ich war ein Wöchelchen im Urlaub.

Von Lockheed halte ich fundamental derzeit recht wenig; einen interessanen Einstiegskurs sähe ich da, wo auch Körschgen ihn sieht, nämlich in den Dreissigern.

Grund: P/E ist nach wie vor zu hoch. Hinzu kommt z.Zt. ein sich immer stärker ausweitendes Haushaltsdefizit in den USA, und früher oder später wird der gute George W. den Rotstift auch beim Verteidigungsetat ansetzen müssen, was z.B. Kürzungen beim JSF zur Folge haben könnte.

Bei den ganz langfristigen Trends fällt mir auf, daß Lockheed noch kaum mit Projekten zu unbemannten Flugzeugen auf sich aufmerksam gemacht hat. Anders Northrop Grumman, die mit dem Global Hawk schon ein voll funktionsfähiges Modell im Angebot haben, das schon erfolgreich über Afghanistan und auf einem Transpazifikflug getestet wurde.

Offensichtlich will Northrop bei der nächsten Generation von Kampfflugzeugen wieder ein kräftigeres Wörtchen mitreden...

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman`s X-47A Pegasus First Flight Achieves Milestone in Autonomous Control
Sunday February 23, 5:26 pm ET


CHINA LAKE, Calif., Feb. 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector achieved a significant milestone in autonomously controlled flight today with the successful first flight of its Pegasus experimental unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The flight took place at Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc/

Northrop Grumman designed and built the Pegasus X-47A with its own funds to demonstrate low-cost, rapid prototyping; robust unmanned vehicle management; and tailless aerodynamic qualities suitable for autonomous launch and recovery flight operations from an aircraft carrier. Lessons learned from the development and testing of Pegasus will be used in support of the company`s naval unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV-N) program for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Navy.

Today`s flight began at 7:56 a.m. PST and lasted 12 minutes. Specific test objectives included low-speed handling qualities, air vehicle performance, navigation performance and collection of landing dispersion data. All test objectives were met.

Most significantly, the X-47A successfully landed near a predesignated touchdown point to simulate the tailhook arrestment point on a carrier flight deck. This landing data, coupled with subsequent flight touchdown points, will demonstrate the X-47A system`s landing accuracy potential. The shipboard-relative global positioning satellite system was used as the primary navigation source for increased landing precision.

Built largely with composite materials and powered by a Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C engine providing 3,200 pounds of thrust, Pegasus measures 27.9 feet long with a nearly equal wingspan of 27.8 feet. The X-47A incorporates advanced autonomous flight control laws to account for directional control of its tailless design.

``The Pegasus program represents our commitment to significantly reduce the risk for our DARPA and Navy customers on the UCAV-N program,`` said Gary W. Ervin, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems sector vice president for Air Combat Systems. ``Regular unmanned flight operations aboard a flight deck at sea have never been attempted, and Pegasus addressed some of those key concerns today.

``In addition, today`s event leverages Northrop Grumman`s experience with thousands of hours of autonomous flight by unmanned systems such as Global Hawk and Fire Scout,`` Ervin said. ``Our approach to design from a `system` perspective is reflected in our success with a full range of UAVs, and Pegasus is a logical progression in repeatable performance with a complex aerodynamic shape. This success also points to the potential for joint use of the Pegasus design to meet Air Force requirements in the government`s emerging Joint UCAV program.``

The goal of the joint DARPA/Navy UCAV-N program is to demonstrate the technical feasibility for an unmanned system to effectively and affordably conduct sea-based surveillance, strike and suppression of enemy air defenses missions within the emerging global command and control architecture. The Pegasus program will play a significant role in supporting this effort.

The X-47A was designed in El Segundo at the Air Combat Systems business area of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. The vehicle was built at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Integrated Systems sector is available at: http://www.iss.northropgrumman.com.

[TMMaster]

Hi Gatsby,

macht nichts - Urlaub muß sein :-)


An den Argumenten bzgl. des Verteidigungshaushaltes scheint ja etwas dran zu sein, wenn man sich die Kurse so anschaut (fast egal welches Unternehmen dieses Sektors).

Besondere Augenschmerzen bekomme ich derzeit bei General Dynamics. Schwächelnde Konjunktur und die beschriebenen Irak-Kontraproduktiv-Effekte in allen Ehren, aber was da abgeht, ist ja kaum mehr mit anzusehen. Bin heilfroh, dort nicht engagiert zu sein, obwohl ich die schonmal im Auge hatte.
Falls sie deutlich unter 60 kommen und evtl. sogar auf die 50 zulaufen sollten, wobei die Bollinger Bänder dann wahrscheinlich so weit auf sind wie ein Scheunentor, werde ich aber vielleicht weich werden.
Nicht ins fallende Messer greifen, O.K., aber ein einziges Mal hab ich mich dazu hinreißen lassen, in Stärke hineinzukaufen und bin prompt bei ATK auf die Nase gefallen. In der Regel hatte ich im umgekehrten Fall meist eher Erfolg (Amgen im Juli z.B. bei einer ähnlichen charttechnischen Situation). Irgendwann muß sich doch selbst GD mal "ausgekotzt" haben, das gibt´s doch gar nicht
Mal sehen was passiert.

Grüße

tmm

[Gatsby2]

jaja, GD ... Gesunde Finanzen, aber irgendwie scheinen die das frühere Siemens-Syndrom zu haben: Hocken auf `nem Sack voll Geld und wissen nicht, wohin damit, während NOC ihnen alles, was gut zu GD`s Geschäftsfeldern gepasst hätte, vor der Nase weggekauft hat. -- ATK hat mich allerdings auch ein wenig überrascht, denn die sahen doch ganz hoffnungsvoll aus. Nur: wenn es einen Sektor halt mal erwischt ...

=============

Bei NOC ging`s übrigens mit neuen Nachrichten zum gestrigen Thema weiter:

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Delivers Seventh Global Hawk Vehicle to U.S. Air Force
Tuesday February 25, 11:25 am ET


SAN DIEGO, Feb. 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation`s (NYSE:NOC - News) Integrated Systems sector delivered the seventh air vehicle of the Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance system to the U.S. Air Force Feb. 14 following the vehicle`s successful first flight.

This air vehicle is the final one to be delivered under the Global Hawk program`s advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) phase. Northrop Grumman is scheduled to deliver the first two production vehicles later this year.

Following launch from its Palmdale, Calif., assembly site, the vehicle flew a three-hour, autonomous checkout mission over the Edwards Air Force Base test range to evaluate system performance prior to delivery. It will continue a series of checkout flights from the base.

This air vehicle was built in a transition configuration between the ACTD phase and the first production system. It features enhancements to the avionics system, including enablers for an open-system architecture. The vehicle will be used to evaluate improved operational capabilities before production vehicles are delivered.

In low-rate initial production for the Air Force`s Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system designed to provide military field commanders with high-resolution, near real-time imagery of large geographic areas.

Since the Global Hawk program began in 1995, Northrop Grumman has received more than $1.6 billion in contracts for Global Hawk design, development, testing and production, including $302.9 million awarded recently for the second lot of low-rate initial production systems.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

[Gatsby2]

@TMM:

Der Artikel paßt ganz gut zu unserem Thema:

Morningstar.com
Defense Stocks on the Brink of War
Wednesday February 26, 7:00 am ET
By Mike Porter


With some sort of armed conflict in Iraq seemingly imminent, it just doesn`t seem intuitive that a lot of defense-oriented stocks are trading down these days. How could it be that industry heavies such as Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - News) and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN - News) are trading near their 52-week lows?

There are a couple of factors at work here. For one, a lot of these stocks were bid up quite a bit in the wake of 9/11. (The market seemed to assume we`d be going after somebody, even if it didn`t know whom just yet.) In fact, a lot of defense contractors had a nice run well before then, once it was clear the Bush administration would put programs such as missile defense at the top of its agenda. Since then, the stocks of many of these firms have drifted downward along with the market.

But there are also a few bigger-picture industry issues. Companies such as General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - News) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - News) haven`t built their businesses around tanks, bullets, and bombs, but development projects. After all, 99% of the time (or thereabouts), we`re not at war. If these companies depended on full-fledged combat to keep them going, they would have shut down a long time ago. Instead, it`s the time leading up to the conflicts that`s really important to them. They do the research and development on a project, they present it to the government, they get a contract, and they produce the goods. That process repeats itself as long as no war interrupts.

That last part is important--"as long as no war interrupts." A war actually gets in the way of a defense contractor`s normal cycle of research and development and production work. Nobody, not even a defense contractor, wants a protracted conflict, believe it or not. Why? Because there`s not a lot of project development going on during a war. Nobody in the military is really keen to push defense contractors to develop some new, unproven technology with a war on.

To some extent, war is "showtime" for these firms. It`s a chance to prove that the projects they`ve been developing for the past several years really do work in practice. General Dynamics became a favorite of the Pentagon once its M1 Abrams tank finally got the chance to prove its mettle in the Gulf War. That war was over quickly, but it lasted long enough for GD. Contractors probably hope for a similar situation this time around--that if a war must happen, it`s over soon after their newest weapons systems have been put to the test.

In the end, yes, some product lines of some defense companies would get some benefit in the event of a war. Defense contractor A might sell a good deal of "consumables" (such as munitions); defense contractor B might be the only supplier of such and such wartime necessity. But, contrary to what intuition might say, a conflict would not be in their interests. An uncertain investment climate, high oil prices, and budget deficits--all potential side effects of a protracted war--are just as hard on a defense contractor as they are on everyone else, and the market seems to know it.

Regardless of what happens in Iraq, we do believe a few defense-oriented stocks are reasonably priced right now.

Raytheon : When you think missiles, think Raytheon. The company produces the Tomahawk and the Patriot, as well as unmanned planes (drones). It`s safe to say that Raytheon`s one customer for the Tomahawk, the Pentagon, is pretty well stocked at the moment. Beyond the war, Raytheon stands to benefit from the national missile defense program. We like Raytheon`s long-term cash flow potential and would consider the shares at a 40% margin of safety to our fair value estimate--nearly where they`re trading now.

Boeing (NYSE:BA - News): Boeing is known by most people as a manufacturer of commercial aircraft such as the 747, but 45% of its sales are unrelated to commercial aviation. Boeing also makes Apache helicopters, fighter planes such as the F-22, and communications systems. We see sales growth averaging around 10% for the next five years and would consider buying the shares if they got just a touch cheaper.

General Dynamics : General Dynamics` sales have grown by an average of 20% annually since 1998. We conservatively project a much lower growth rate than that but still believe the shares are undervalued. GD makes the M1 Abrams Tank and information systems that allow the military`s various divisions to communicate with one another. Finally, it`s one of just a few companies that can meet the shipbuilding needs of the U.S. Navy.

[Gatsby2]

Bei Northrop stand der Tag natürlich ganz im Zeichen des abgeschlossenen Verkaufs der Automobilzulieferersparte von TRW. Die auch politisch keineswegs uninteressante Nachricht vom Upgrade des Luftaufklärungssystems "Hawkeye" für Ägypten drohte darin fast unterzugehen:

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Delivers First Hawkeye 2000 Upgrade for Egypt
Monday March 3, 10:00 am ET


ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., March 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Egyptian air force has accepted delivery of the first of six E-2C Hawkeye 2000 export configuration aircraft upgraded by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News).

The former U.S. Navy fleet aircraft was remanufactured and upgraded by the company`s Integrated Systems sector to the Hawkeye 2000 export configuration, which includes a more powerful, commercial off-the-shelf mission computer, and advanced operator workstations.

A second upgraded aircraft for Egypt is scheduled for delivery in early 2004. The upgrade program began in 1999 and is valued at $174 million.

``Egypt has been defending its skies with our Hawkeyes for nearly 20 years,`` said Phil Teel, Integrated Systems vice president for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and Electronic Warfare Systems. ``Egypt`s decision to upgrade its fleet to the Hawkeye 2000 export configuration underscores the value of this airborne early warning and control system. We believe there is a significant market for this solution to the international AEW need.``

``This modification effort continues our current record of on-time or ahead of schedule deliveries of new and modified aircraft from our St. Augustine facility,`` said Tom Williams, vice president and Integrated Product Team leader, Airborne Early Warning Programs. ``Our St. Augustine facility was named one of the top 25 plants in the United States by Industry Week magazine, demonstrating our team`s continued commitment to product quality and improvement.``

In addition to Egypt, Japan is also upgrading its fleet of Hawkeyes to the Hawkeye 2000 export configuration.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise with the capabilities to design, develop, produce and support fully missionized integrated systems and subsystems. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services in support of chosen segments within the broad market areas of battlespace awareness, command and control systems and integrated combat systems.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northgrum.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Integrated Systems sector is available at: http://www.is.northropgrumman.com

===============

Associated Press
Northrop Completes $4.7B Sale of TRW Auto
Monday March 3, 10:36 am ET
Northrop Grumman Completes $4.7 Billion Sale of TRW Automotive to The Blackstone Group


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Northrop Grumman Corp. said Monday that it has completed the $4.7 billion sale of TRW Automotive to the private equity firm The Blackstone Group.
With the sale, Blackstone owns 80.4 percent of the business and Northrop Grumman retains 19.6 percent ownership.

"This is a milestone for TRW Automotive as the company emerges as an independent, top 10 global supplier," said TRW president and CEO John Plant in a statement. "The company is now 100 percent focused on the needs of automotive customers, and we have an exciting opportunity to capitalize on our position as the global leader in automotive safety."

Northrop Grumman officials said the approximately $3.9 billion in cash proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt and meet corporate obligations.

Los Angeles-based Northrop agreed to spin off the auto parts unit as part of its purchase of parent company TRW Inc., which was cleared by U.S. authorities in December.

"At the time we announced our acquisition of TRW, we stated our intention to separate the automotive business," said Kent Kresa, Northrop Grumman chairman and chief executive. "Today, we have delivered on that promise."

TRW, which is based in Livonia, Mich., is the eighth largest automotive supplier with 2001 sales of about $10 billion. It produces antilock brakes, assisted steering devices and air bags.

The European Union Commission in February approved the buyout by the Blackstone Group.

TRW previously sold its aeronautical systems business last October to Goodrich Corp., of Charlotte, N.C., for $1.5 billion.

In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Northrop shares were up 76 cents at $87.46.

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation


Northrop Grumman to Initiate Debt Reduction Plan; 2003 Earnings Guidance Reduced to Reflect Increased Interest Expense
Wednesday March 5, 9:00 am ET


LOS ANGELES, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC - News) announced today that, having completed the sale of TRW Automotive on March 3, 2003, it is finalizing plans to repay certain public debt. The company will retire debt in phases, the first phase of which will be announced shortly. The debt reduction plan is expected to be complete by the end of the second quarter.

As a result of the anticipated timing and the composition of the debt to be retired, the company stated that it expects net interest expense for 2003 to be approximately $100 million higher than its previous guidance of $370 million. As a result the company now expects its 2003 earnings per share to range between $3.65 and $4.15 per share, versus previous guidance of $4.00 to $4.50 per share.

The company stated that there is no change to its previous guidance for 2003 and 2004 sales and segment operating performance. Segment operating margin for 2003 is expected to be in the mid-7 percent range on estimated sales of $25 billion to $26 billion, with cash from operations between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion before the B-2 related tax payment. The company still expects its net debt-to-capital ratio at year-end 2003 to be below 30 percent. For 2004, sales are expected to range between $28 billion and $29 billion, with segment operating margin expected to continue in the mid-7 percent range.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $25 billion global defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

Note: Certain statements and assumptions in this release contain or are based on "forward-looking" information (that Northrop Grumman believes to be within the definition in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) and involve risks and uncertainties, and include, among others, statements in the future tense, and all statements accompanied by terms such as "project," "expect," "estimate," "assume," or variations thereof. This information reflects the company`s best estimates when made, but the company expressly disclaims any duty to update this information if new data becomes available or estimates change after the date of this release.

These estimates are based on preliminary estimates of the fair market value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed and the related allocations of the purchase price related to the TRW acquisition. Final valuations and allocations, which are expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2003, may differ from the estimates included herein. Various risk factors are set out in Northrop Grumman`s filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, Northrop Grumman reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and the company`s most recently filed amendment to Form S-4.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation

[TMMaster]

@gatsby

Der Artikel zur Performance der Defense Werte ist nicht schlecht. Vor allem gibt ihm der Markt Recht. Und dies hat jener ja bekanntlich immer...

Allerdings :

<. If these companies depended on full-fledged combat to keep them going, they would have shut down a long time ago>

Diese Begründung verstehe ich nicht ganz. Es ist ja nicht so, als ob der Verteidigungshaushalt in Friedenszeiten bei 0 wäre und zwei Tage vor einem möglichen Krieg auf 100% aufgeblasen würde. Damit rechnet sicher niemand.
Eigentlich müssten aber die Ausgaben für den Verteidigungsbereich bei einem Verhalten, wie es unsere Bush Administration derzeit an den Tag legt, tendenziell nach oben tendieren.
Natürlich werden nicht plötzlich hier ein paar Flugzeuge -dort ein paar Schiffe mehr geordert, weil Irak et. al. vor der Tür stehen. Nur kann die USA diese Außenpolitik lediglich dann längerfristig ausführen, wenn sie weiterhin investieren und diesen Investitionsgrad im Zweifelsfall auch eher erhöhen als verringern.

Wenn eine Firma eine Maschine nur als "Backupdevice" in Betrieb hat und der Hersteller ihr ein teures Update verkaufen will, kann der Vertrieb auf Granit beißen.
Sobald die Maschine aber real im Einsatz ist und die Produktion zu einem gewissen Teil davon abhängt, wird man viel eher bereit sein neu zu investieren, Supportverträge zu verlängern, technische Neuerungen einfließen zu lassen usw usw.

Warum dies bei Flugzeugen, militärischen Informationssystemen, Satelliten, Flughafenüberwachungen etc. anders sein soll, will mir immer noch nicht ganz einleuchten.


Naja, schaun wir mal.
Ich hänge mich mal etwas aus dem Fenster und tippe darauf, dass GD kurz-mittelfristig eher wieder nach oben als nach unten geht.
Wer investiert, ist natürlich - wie immer - selber schuld


Grüße

tmm

Grüße

[Gatsby2]

@tmm

Ich sehe für den Sektor mittel- und längerfristig zwei Probleme:

Die Rüstungsindustrie ist wie kein anderer Sektor von der Politik und der allgemeinen Lage der Staatsfinanzen abhängig. Präsident Bush hat im ersten Regierungsjahr eine Steuerreform durchgeboxt, die nicht nur grob einseitig zugunsten der hohen Einkommensschichten greifen wird, sondern die vor allem in mehreren Schritten kommt. Schon jetzt ist der Haushalt von den Überschüssen der Ära Clinton in ein fettes Defizit gerutscht, und die Steuerreformen reichen in einer solchen Weise über die erste Amtszeit von Herrn Bush hinaus, das man fast annehmen möchte, er gehe nicht von einer Wiederwahl aus (denn sonst muß er den Mist selber auslöffeln. ).

Was die Beschaffungspolitik im besonderen betrifft, so sind die bislang vergebenen Aufträge nicht über Nacht entstanden, sondern sie entspringen einer langfristigen Planung der Streitkräfte, die unter Clinton einen gewissen Investitionsstau zu verzeichnen hatten, den Bush nachhaltig behoben hat. Zumindestens, was die Airforce betrifft, hat er praktisch alles genehmigt, was dort in den nächsten 10 Jahren an langfristiger Beschaffung erforderlich sein wird (ausgenommen vielleicht den Deal mit den Tankflugzeugen, der noch nicht durch den Kongress durch ist.)

Natürlich haben auch langlebige Verteidigungsgüter noch gewisse Aftermarket Sales, aber die können ganz schnell durch eine parlamentarische Korrektur der ursprünglichen Beschaffungsziffer wieder neutralisiert werden, und so wie der US-Haushalt in den nächsten Jahren aussehen wird, würde ich das keineswegs ausschließen wollen.

Grüße

Gatsby

[TMMaster]

<Natürlich haben auch langlebige Verteidigungsgüter noch gewisse Aftermarket Sales, aber die können ganz schnell durch eine parlamentarische Korrektur der ursprünglichen Beschaffungsziffer wieder neutralisiert werden, und so wie der US-Haushalt in den nächsten Jahren aussehen wird, würde ich das keineswegs ausschließen wollen.>

Guter Punkt, leuchtet ein.


* sowas , jetzt hat das Board meinen ganzen Text hier gelöscht, offenbar darf man nicht länger als 10 Minuten zum Tippen brauchen *

nochmal in Kurzform...

Trotz aller Detailfragen sollte man IMO den Blick für die generelle Situation und die Fundamentaldaten nichht ganz beiseite schieben und ein wenig gesunden Menschenverstand walten lassen. Was den Internetwerten 2001 das Genick gebrochen hat, kann vielleicht heute den ein oder anderen Wert nach oben hieven.
(Boing: KGV 9, sehr hohe Dividendenrendite, Northrop Grumman ebenfalls passable Werte, wie auch General Dynamics). Nicht dass ich die deshalb direkt kaufen würde, aber sie im Hinterkopf zu behalten und ab & an Ansehen könnte sich vielleicht bezahlt machen.

Grüße

tmm

[Gatsby2]

@TMM

Im langfristigen Anlagehorizont mag ich in diesem Segment derzeit vor allem Boeing und EADS.

Ebenso wie zu GD, habe ich auch zu BA allein deshalb keinen Thread, weil es mir zuviel Arbeit ist.

Gruß

Gatsby

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation


Northrop Grumman Announces First Phase of Debt Reduction Plan
Tuesday March 11, 11:49 am ET


LOS ANGELES, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC - News) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. (formerly TRW Inc.) has commenced offers to purchase any or all of the issues of outstanding Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. debt securities described below at prices calculated at the time a holder agrees to tender. The offers will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 17, 2003, unless extended by Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp.
The purchase price for securities of any issue will be calculated, at the time of tender, by the respective dealer managers for that issue listed below, and will be the price resulting from a yield to maturity equal to (i) the fixed spread listed below for that security plus (ii) the yield on the applicable U.S. Treasury Security specified in the Offer to Purchase. Copies of the Offer to Purchase will be distributed to all registered holders of the following securities.

Description of Fixed Spread Dealer Manager
Securities (basis points)

65/8% Notes due 2004 +35 Credit Suisse First Boston
6.05% Notes due 2005 +50 Credit Suisse First Boston
75/8% Notes due 2006 +55 JPMorgan
83/4% Notes due 2006 +55 JPMorgan
71/8% Notes due 2009 +75 Salomon Smith Barney
9.35% Notes due 2020 +95 Salomon Smith Barney
93/8 Notes due 2021 +95 Salomon Smith Barney



The purchase price will in each case include accrued and unpaid interest on the applicable securities to, but excluding, the payment date for such securities. Payment for securities tendered will be made on the third business day following the date of tender, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

The offers are part of the first phase of Northrop Grumman`s debt reduction plan. The total outstanding amount of debt securities subject to the offers is approximately $2.85 billion.

Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. will use a portion of the cash proceeds from the recent sale of TRW Automotive to finance the purchase of securities tendered pursuant to the offers. Northrop Grumman also announced that it intends to guarantee the payment of all currently outstanding debt securities of Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. issued pursuant to the indenture dated as of May 1, 1986, including any of the debt securities described above that are not tendered pursuant to the offers.

Salomon Smith Barney, Credit Suisse First Boston, JPMorgan and Scotia Capital are the dealer managers for the tender offers, and Mellon Investor Services LLC is the information agent. Questions concerning the terms of individual offers may be addressed to the relevant dealer manager specified in the table above with respect to specific issues of securities subject to the offers at the following toll free numbers: Salomon Smith Barney at [phone]; Credit Suisse First Boston at [phone]; or JPMorgan at [phone]. Information and assistance regarding the mechanics of the offers and copies of the Offer to Purchase may be obtained by contacting Mellon Investor Services LLC at [phone].

The consummation of the offers is subject to certain conditions described in the Offer to Purchase. Subject to applicable law, Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. may, in its sole discretion, waive any of the conditions applicable to the tender offers and may extend or otherwise amend the tender offers. The offers are not conditioned on a minimum amount of securities being tendered.

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase any securities. The offers are being made only pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and only to such persons and in such jurisdictions as is permitted under applicable law.

None of Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp., its board of directors, Northrop Grumman Corporation, the trustee for the securities subject to the offers, the dealer managers or the information agent for the offers makes any recommendation as to whether holders of the securities should tender or refrain from tendering securities pursuant to the offers.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $25 billion global defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation

[TMMaster]

Hi gatsby,

bei Boeing bin ich mir nicht sicher wie die Lage bzgl. dieser Klage der US Air Force / Army in Bezug auf einen Maschinentyp aussieht, an dem Boeing beteiligt ist. Ist wohl schon einige Jahre her und sie streiten sich darum, ob die Firma wirklich Ergebnisse geliefert hat, die den vereinbarten Specs entsprochen hätte. Im Gegenzug ist die Gesellschaft sauer, dass der Staat einen Rückzieher aus dem Projekt machen will und verklagen sich deshalb wohl nun schon einige Zeit lang gegenseitig.

General Dynamics war da IMO auch indirekt durch eine Aquisition von betroffen.


Insgesamt meine ich aber, das solche "Kinkerlitzchen" bei einer Firmengröße wie der von Boeing keine allzu durchschlagende Wirkung haben dürfte. Zumindest rechtfertigt sowas IMHO keine Halbierung eines Börsenwertes.

Grüße

tmm

[Gatsby2]

@TMM,

Du meinst die A-12, die seinerzeit von niemand geringerem als dem heutigen US-Vizepräsidenten Dick Cheney plattgemacht wurde?

Interessanterweise wurden diese Woche die Testflüge für die V-22 "Osprey" für ein Weilchen ausgesetzt (kein Wunder bei dem Schrott), und gestern hat Donald Rumsfeld angekündigt, den Deal mit den Tankflugzeugen einer genaueren Untersuchung unterziehen zu wollen ...

Die Gerichte sehen das DoD allenfalls zu geringen Entschädigungszahlungen, keinesfalls aber zu dem verlangten Betrag verpflichtet...

Honi soit, qui mal y pense

[Gatsby2]

Reuters
Iraqi showdown seen aiding aircraft-carrier future
Wednesday March 12, 8:43 am ET
By Jim Wolf


MANAMA, March 12 (Reuters) - Come war with Iraq or not, a handful of aircraft-carrier builders, designers and equippers are likely to be big winners of the U.S.-led showdown with President Saddam Hussein, military experts say.

The floating airfields, at the heart of a U.S.-led armada in the Gulf region, had once seemed potential losers in a battle for funds under President George W. Bush because of worries about their vulnerability to missile and submarine attack.

All that changed when carriers and their support ships launched the U.S.-led attack on Taliban and al Qaeda targets in land-locked Afghanistan in October 2001.

And the largest warships in the world buried any remaining doubts about their future, many analysts believe, when Iraq`s neighbour Turkey narrowly voted "No" on March 1 to a planned U.S. deployment of 65,000 troops on its soil.

"Recent U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and the Gulf area have validated and underscored those arguments," said Ronald O`Rourke, who tracks naval systems for the non-partisan U.S. Congressional Research Service, referring to the value of 4.5 acres (1.821 hectares) of mobile, sovereign U.S. territory.

Five of the 12 operational U.S. carriers, plus one of Britain`s three Invincible class, are in and around the Gulf or in the Eastern Mediterranean within striking distance of Iraq. A sixth U.S. carrier is on its way.

EXTRA AIRFIELDS

Lieutenant Commander Steve Tatham, a spokesman for the British Royal Navy in Bahrain, said: "In effect, we have two additional floating airfields," referring to the Invincible class Ark Royal and a British helicopter carrier, Ocean.

Military contractors likely to benefit are Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE:NOC - News), which owns the only U.S. yard capable of building large nuclear-fuelled carriers, and BAE Systems (London:BA.L - News), lead contractor for two British carriers due for delivery from 2012.

Also likely to cash in are subcontractors such as Thales SA (Paris:TCFP.PA - News) of France, which has a key role in designing Britain`s future carriers, plus Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - News), Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - News), Raytheon Corp. (NYSE:RTN - News), and General Dynamics Corp (NYSE:GD - News)., the biggest U.S. military contractors with Los Angeles-based Northrop.

The next-generation U.S. "flat tops" are due to be more powerful, more automated and faster than their predecessors, which can steam 700 miles (1,100 km) a day.

Before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the largest carriers seemed to be fighting a battle for survival.

At issue was their ability to withstand 21st century threats such as ultra-quiet diesel electric submarines and the Russian-built SS-N-22 "Sunburn" sea-skimming anti-ship missile, which zooms in at about 1,500 mph (2,400 kph). The Sunburn has been deployed by China aboard Russian-built destroyers.

In April 2001, for instance, Vice Admiral Thomas Keating, now commander of the U.S. Central Command`s Bahrain-based naval component, defended carrier design.

"When it comes to withstanding damage, bigger is better," he wrote in a widely distributed letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. "At 90,000 tons, carriers could sustain multiple missile hits and continue to fight."

At the end of January, the British defence ministry tapped BAE Systems for the lead role in a $4.8 billion deal to build two new carriers, the largest warships ever built in Britain.

The U.S. Navy has two carriers under construction. Another is to be ordered in 2007 in a new design including a more powerful nuclear generator and a redesigned flight deck to boost the daily number of flights per aircraft.

The first such new carrier, which is designed to require 800 fewer sailors than the 5,000 to 6,000 on current ships, is expected to cost $10-$11 billion.

[TMMaster]

<Honi soit, qui mal y pense>

oh..diese Bildungslücken - Pisa läßt grüßen....

Helf mir bitte auf die Sprünge.

"Ein Schelm wer Böses dabei denkt" oder
"Wer im Glashaus sitzt, sollte nicht mit Steinen werfen" ?



Grüße

tmm

[Mannerl]

New York (ots) -

Landungssysteme werden auf von Northrop Grumman für die US-Navy
gebauten Schiffen installiert

API Electronics Group Inc.
gibt bekannt, dass die Produktion von vier Visual Landing Aid (VLA)
Beleuchtungssystemen für Northrop Grumman Ship Systems begonnen hat.
Der Auftrag ging an die 100-prozentige Konzerntochter TM Systems und
hat einen Wert von 1,239 Millionen US-Dollar. Die ersten
Teilzahlungen an API sind erfolgt und der Restbetrag wird bei
Lieferung fällig, die in vier Monaten erfolgen soll. Northrop Grumman
verfügt über eine Option auf den Kauf acht weiterer VLA-Systeme, was
den Gesamtwert des Auftrags auf 2,8 Millionen US-Dollar steigern
würde.

Die VLA-Systeme sind für Schiffe der US-Navy bestimmt, die in
Northrop Grummans Avondale-Werft in New Orleans, Louisiana, gebaut
werden. Die Schiffe, für die die Systeme bestimm sind, sind die San
Antonio (LPD 17), New Orleans (LPD 18), Mesa Verde (LPD 19) und Green
Bay (LPD 20). Alle diese Schiffe sind für den Transport und die
Landung von Marines, Ausrüstung und Nachschub in mitgeführten
Landungsbooten oder Amphibienfahrzeugen vorgesehen, die bei einem
Angriff von Helikoptern unterstützt werden.

APIs VLA-Systeme bieten Navy-Helikoptern visuelle Anhaltspunkte
und ermöglichen es ihnen, zu jeder Tages- oder Nachtzeit sicher
abzuheben und zu landen. Die Piloten folgen einem klar bestimmten
Pfad verbesserter Flugdeckbeleuchtung, Hinweisen zur Tiefenerkennung
und zur Erkennung von Hindernissen.

Das typische VLA-System enthält:

- Das Wave-off-Beleuchtungssystem, das es der Brücke ermöglicht,
die Kontrolle über Start- und Landevorgänge der Helikopter zu
übernehmen, sollten unerwartete Ereignisse wie Probleme beim Anflug,
mit der Kommunikation und/oder mit veränderten EMCON-Bedingungen
(Electromagnetic Emission Control) auftreten;

- Das Deck Status-Beleuchtungssystem, das den Piloten und die Crew
auf dem Flugdeck mit Informationen zur Lage auf dem Landebereich
versorgt; und

- Die Kontrollkonsole für die Beleuchtung, die die Möglichkeit
bietet, die passende Nachtbeleuchtung auszuwählen und die
Beleuchtungsintensität anzupassen.

"API ist erfreut, die hochmodernen Schiffe des Militärs unseres
Landes noch verbessern zu können", erklärt Tom Mills, President und
COO von API Electronics Inc. "Unser VLA-System wird dabei helfen, die
Sicherheit unserer Piloten und der Crew sicherzustellen und die
Einsatzfähigkeit der Navy der Vereinigten Staaten zu steigern."

Northrop Gummans Ship-Systems-Sector hat seine
Hauptoperationszentren in Pascagoula und Gulfport, Mississippi, und
in New Orleans und Tallulah, Louisiana, sowie eine Vielzahl von Büros
zur Flottenunterstützung in den USA und Japan. Ship Systems ist mit
derzeit mehr als 17.000 Mitarbeitern, hauptsächlich in Mississippi
und Louisiana, eines der führenden Full-Service-Unternehmen für
Design, Technik, Konstruktion und Wartung von großen Schiffen für die
US-Navy, die US-Küstenwache, die internationale Marine und
kommerzielle Schiffe jeder Art.

Über API Electronics

API Electronics Group Inc. sowie die 100-prozentigen Töchter API
Electronics Inc., Filtran Group und TM Systems sind führende
Entwickler und Hersteller von qualitativ hochwertigsten
elektronischen Komponenten und Systemen für die Rüstungs- und
Kommunikationsindustrie. API und die Tochtergesellschaften beliefern
gemeinsam seit über 50 Jahren zahlreiche weltweite Produzenten von
Militärprodukten, Telekommunikationsausrüstung, Computerzulieferung,
Prozesssteuerausrüstung und -instrumenten. APIs TM Systems ist seit
über 30 Jahren im Geschäft und liefert kritische Systeme an
verschiedene US- Regierungsbehörden, darunter die U.S. Navy, sowie an
zahlreiche in- und ausländische kommerzielle Unternehmen. Mit einer
wachsenden Kundenliste von "Blue Chip Unternehmen" einschließlich
Honeywell-/Alliedsignals, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Harris
Corporation sowie zahlreicher anderer führender Technologie- oder
technologiebasierter Unternehmen in aller Welt, liefert API
regelmäßig reguläre sowie speziell angefertigte Produkte an Kunden in
mehr als 34 Ländern. API verfügt über hochmoderne Produktions- und
Technologiezentren im Bundesstaat New York, USA, und Ontario, Kanada,
die zusammen eine Fläche von 51.000 Quadratfuß ausmachen. Das
Unternehmen verfügt außerdem über Produktionskapazitäten in China
sowie über eine Vertriebszentrum in Großbritannien. APIs
Tochtergesellschaften Filtran Group und API Electronics Inc. sind
nach ISO 9001 zertifizierte Unternehmen. Die Aktien von API
Electronics werden in Deutschland und den USA gehandelt [Deutschland,
ISIN: CA00186D1078 / USA, OTCBB: APIEF]. Weitere Informationen über
die Filtran Gruppe und API Electronics finden Sie bitte auf den
Websites der Firmen unter www.filtran.com oder www.apielectronics.com

Diese Pressemitteilung enthält vorausschauenden Aussagen in
Übereinstimmung mit dem "Private Securities Litigation Reform Act"
von 1995. Alle vorausschauenden Aussagen unterliegen einem gewissen
Risiko, Unsicherheiten und Annahmen. Diese Risiken und
Unsicherheiten, die in APIs jährlichen und vierteljährlichen
Berichten, wie sie bei der Securities and Exchange Commission
eingereicht werden, ausführlicher dargelegt sind, schließen
veränderte Marktbedingungen innerhalb der Branchen, in denen das
Unternehmen tätig ist, mit ein.

[Micky_Maus]

Schon 10 Tage alt:

29.09.03 / 07:24

Northrop Grumman "buy"

Rating-Update: Die Analysten vom Investmenthaus Jefferies & Co stufen die Aktie von Northrop Grumman (ISIN US6668071029/ WKN 851915) von "hold" auf "buy" hoch. Das Kursziel sehe man bei 100 USD.



gelesen bei maxblue

[Micky_Maus]

Schade, dass Gatsby2 in der Versenkung ist. Wollte eigentlich in dem Lockheed-Thread posten, aber der ist schon historisch und läßt keine Antwort mehr zu, obwohl noch gar keine 6 Monate um sind (gemäß WO-Richtlinien)

Um was es geht, sind Rüstungsaktien allgemein. Lockheed und Raytheon sind ja die letzten Jahre gut gelaufen, Northrop hat sich mit TRW und Litton vielleicht etwas verhoben.

Angesichts einer drohenden Schlappe für Bush, Rumsfeld & Rice bei den US-Wahlen im Sommer, sowie eines weiteren Dollarverfalls-- sollte man nicht Rüstungsaktien generell meiden?

[Mannerl]

chart läuft immer noch gut..

[Mannerl]

Northrop Grummanübertrifft im 4. Quartal Erwartungen - Umsatz steigt


LOS ANGELES (dpa-AFX) - Der US-Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grummanhat bei steigendem Umsatz im vierten Quartal 2003 beim EPS die Erwartungen der Wall Street Analystenübertroffen. Die Erlöse hätten von 4,8 Milliarden im Vorjahr auf 7,1 Milliarden US-Dollar zugelegt, teilte das Unternehmen am Mittwoch in Los Angeles mit. Der Gewinn aus dem fortgeführten Geschäft belaufe sich auf 203 Millionen oder 1,11 US-Dollar pro Aktie (Vorjahr: 1,73).

Das Unternehmenübertraf beim Umsatz die Prognose der von Thomson First Call befragten Analysten, die im Durchschnitt mit 6,77 Milliarden US-Dollar gerechnet hatten. Beim EPS hatten die Experten 1,10 US-Dollar erwartet.

AUSBLICK

Für das laufende Jahr geht Northrop Grumman von einem Umsatz in Höhe von 28 Milliarden US-Dollar und einem Gewinn aus fortgeführtem Geschäft zwischen 5,60 und 5,90 US-Dollar pro Aktie aus.

Nach Angaben des Unternehmens nahm die Zahl der ausstehenden Aktien von 183,6 Millionen vor einem Jahr auf 126,5 Millionen im vierten Quartal 2003 ab. Der Nettogewinn sei mit 224 Millionen genauso hoch ausgefallen wie im Vorjahreszeitraum. Auf Grund der veränderten Zahl der Aktien ergab sich daraus ein Reingewinn je Aktie von 1,22 US-Dollar (2002: 1,72).

Das operative Ergebnis sei unter anderem durch Pensionsrückstellungen in Höhe von 145 Millionen US-Dollar belastet worden, hießes weiter. Im Vorjahr sei unter dieser Position noch ein Plus von 22 Millionen angefallen. Außerdem wurden im Geschäftsfeld Elektronische Systeme Kosten von 40 Millionen US-Dollar im Zusammenhang mit der geschätzten Verteuerung bei der Weiterentwicklung des F-16-Kampfflugzeugs (F-16 Block 60) verbucht.

Vor dem Hintergrund des Irak-Kriegs hat Northrop Grumman seinen Umsatz im Gesamtjahr 2003 um 52 Prozent auf 26,2 Milliarden US-Dollar gesteigert. Das Ergebnis aus fortgeführtem Geschäft wurde mit 808 Millionen oder 4,32 US-Dollar pro Aktie beziffert. Dieser Wert lasse den kumulativen Effekt einer Buchführungsänderung unberücksichtigt, hießes. Im Vorjahr seien 697 Millionen oder 5,72 US-Dollar pro Aktie angefallen. DerÜberschuss wurde mit 866 Millionen oder 4,64 US-Dollar pro Aktie angegeben. Der Nettogewinn 2002 betrug 64 Millionen oder 0,34 US-Dollar pro Aktie

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman Redelivers USS Ronald Reagan After Successful Post Shakedown Availability
Monday May 3, 2:02 pm ET


NEWPORT NEWS, Va., May 3, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News) successfully redelivered the nation`s newest and most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), to the U.S. Navy after a post shakedown availability (PSA).
Photos accompanying this release are available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc/

The Ronald Reagan returned to the company`s Newport News sector shipyard in December for the PSA, a typical availability in the early life of a carrier that allows the Navy and Newport News team to resolve any items that came up during early cruises and make any last-minute changes and upgrades. Work performed under this contract is valued at $53 million and included upgrades for the new F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Other changes included a third physical fitness center for sailors, combat system and radar equipment upgrades, and minor repairs.

``The completion of this work symbolizes a new chapter in the life of the Ronald Reagan,`` said Bob Gunter, senior vice president of Aircraft Carrier Programs, Northrop Grumman Newport News. ``Hundreds of shipbuilders worked hand-in-hand with Ronald Reagan sailors to make this PSA a success, bringing this great ship one step closer to her voyage home to the West Coast.``

``The PSA was a tremendous success for both the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard workers and the Ronald Reagan crew,`` said Captain Jim Symonds, Ronald Reagan`s commanding officer. ``The work that was poured into this carrier, preparing it for a lifetime at sea, is a testament to the quality of people that make up the Northrop Grumman Newport News team. It will be put to the test later this month as we say farewell to the Hampton Roads area and sail around South America to bring this great ship to our new homeport in San Diego.``

Named after America`s 40th president, Ronald Reagan is the ninth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier built by Northrop Grumman Newport News. It towers 20 stories above the waterline, and at 1,092 feet long, is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The ship displaces approximately 95,000 tons of water when afloat. USS Ronald Reagan was christened in March 2001 and delivered to the Navy in June 2003.

Northrop Grumman Newport News, headquartered in Newport News, Va., is the nation`s sole designer, builder, and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of only two companies capable of designing and building nuclear powered submarines. Newport News also provides after-market services for a wide array of naval and commercial vessels. The Newport News sector employs about 19,000 people.

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Newport News sector is available at: http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/index.html



Contact:

Jerri Fuller Dickseski [phone]
Jennifer Dellapenta [phone]
Northrop Grumman Newport News


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.

[Gatsby2]

Press Release Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.


Northrop Grumman-Built High-Energy Laser Destroys Large-Caliber Rocket in History-Making Test
Thursday May 6, 11:41 am ET
Shootdown Shows MTHEL`s Potential Versatility Against Increasing Range of Battlefield Threats


REDONDO BEACH, Calif., May 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- As the scope of battlefield threats continues to expand, so does the versatility of a high-energy laser system to defeat them. The U.S. Army`s Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) testbed destroyed a rocket on May 4 that`s larger, faster and that flies higher than previous threats destroyed by the laser weapon demonstrator. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - News) built the demonstrator for the Army and the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMoD).

Tuesday`s successful intercept and destruction of the large-caliber rocket carrying a live warhead took place at 12:45 p.m. MDT during a live-fire test of the MTHEL testbed at the Army`s White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

The large-caliber rocket is capable of twice the range, achieves more than three times the altitude, and carries a much larger warhead than previous targets. Many countries already possess large-caliber rockets. The destroyed rocket is representative of threats faced by U.S. and Israeli forces.

``The destruction of a new threat type once again demonstrates the capability of the MTHEL testbed,`` said Wes Bush, president of Northrop Grumman`s Space Technology sector. ``We are excited about the historic accomplishments and we are fully prepared to move to the next stage of building the MTHEL prototype.``

The rocket shot down is faster and has more mass than Katyusha rockets the MTHEL testbed has destroyed since testing began in 2000.

A more compact, mobile and easily transportable THEL, the MTHEL prototype will give the Army its first deployable laser weapon system. Northrop Grumman began work on the existing testbed in 1996 when it was called the THEL/Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (ACTD).

MTHEL will be the first tactical and mobile, directed-energy weapon capable of shooting down rockets and other tactical targets in flight to protect deployed forces and civilians of the U.S. and its friends and allies.

The existing MTHEL testbed was designed, developed and produced by a Northrop Grumman-led team of U.S. and Israeli contractors for the U.S. Space & Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala., and for IMoD. In addition to Northrop Grumman`s Space Technology and Mission Systems sectors, U.S. companies involved in testbed development are Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colo., and Brashear LP, Pittsburgh, Pa. Israeli companies that supported THEL ACTD development are Electro-Optic Industries, Ltd., Rehovat; Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd., Yehud Industrial Zone; RAFAEL, Haifa; and Tadiran, Holon.

In testing to date, the MTHEL testbed has destroyed 28 Katyusha rockets and five artillery shells in flight.

Northrop Grumman Space Technology, based in Redondo Beach, Calif., develops a broad range of systems at the leading edge of space, defense and electronics technology. The sector creates products for U.S. military and civilian customers that contribute significantly to the nation`s security and leadership in science and technology.

You can also view the latest video clips, download images, and obtain background information on lasers and the MTHEL program at http://www.st.northropgrumman.com/media/PressKit.cfm?PressKi…

Members of the news media may receive our releases via e-mail by registering at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/cgi-bin/regist_form.cgi

LEARN MORE ABOUT US: Northrop Grumman news releases, product information, photos and video clips are available on the Internet at: http://www.northropgrumman.com. Information specific to the Space Technology sector is available at: http://www.st.northropgrumman.com/home/main.html



Contact:
Bob Bishop
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
[phone]
Cell: [phone]
[e-mail]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.

[Gatsby2]

Reuters
Northrop Hikes Its Dividend, Sets Split
Wednesday May 12, 12:17 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) on Wednesday said it would raise its dividend 15 percent, its first increase in more than a decade, and it set its first stock split in nearly 20 years.

Northrop also affirmed its 2004 earnings forecast and said it expected 2005 earnings to grow in the "solid double-digits."

The Los Angeles company, the maker of warships and the Global Hawk spy plane used in the Iraq war, said it expects 2005 sales of about $30 billion and expects profit margins to expand. Analysts expect 2005 revenue of $30.7 billion, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group, Plc.

The company, which also makes the stealth bomb and designs secure data systems for the government, expects 2005 cash provided by operations to range between $1.8 billion and $2 billion.

For 2004, Northrop maintained its earlier outlook for earnings from continuing operations of $5.60 to $5.90 a share, on sales of about $28 billion. Analysts expect earnings of $5.89 per share and revenue of $28.5 billion.

In light of the stock split, earnings per share should range between $2.80 and $2.95, Northrop said.

New shares in the two-for-one stock split will be distributed on June 21 to shareholders of record on May 28. Northrop will have about 360 million common shares after the split.

The company said its board voted to raise the quarterly dividend to 46 cents per share on a pre-split basis from the current 40 cents per share. The dividend will be payable June 5 to shareholders of record on May 24.

The company last raised its dividend in January 1993, from 30 cents per share to 40 cents. Its last stock split occurred in September 1984.

The news comes the same day the defense contractor will hold its annual institutional investor conference in New York.

Last week Northrop reported first-quarter income from continuing operations rose 31 percent to $228 million, or $1.25 per share.

Northrop shares closed down just over 1 percent on Tuesday at $97.45 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) . The stock has gained more than 10 percent over the past year.

[Mannerl]

Northrop Grumman erhält Flugzeugträgerauftrag im Wert von 1,386 Mrd Dollar


LOS ANGELES (dpa-AFX) - Der US-Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grumman wird für 1,386 Milliarden Dollar der US-Marine einen Flugzeugträger mit Atomantrieb fertigen. Der Bau solle 2007 beginnen und die Auslieferung 2014 erfolgen, teilte der Konzern am Freitag in Los Angeles mit. Der Flugzeugträger CVN 21 werde eine zu einer "neuen Generation" dieser Schiffsgattung gehören. Neben dem atomaren Antrieb seien auch ein verbessertes Flugdeck und eine neuartige Waffenausstattung vorgesehen./sit/fn



© dpa - Meldung vom 21.05.2004 23:30 Uhr

[Mannerl]

NEW ORLEANS, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded $100.4 million by the U.S. Navy for advance procurement of long-lead time materials for San Diego (LPD 22), the sixth amphibious transport dock ship in the transformational San Antonio class LPD 17 program.

"We are heartened to see a commitment to the sixth ship of the San Antonio class," said Dr. Philip A. Dur, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and president of the company``s Ship Systems sector.

Long-lead materials for LPD 22 consist of steel plates and shapes, pipe, cable and other major equipment. Advance procurement funding is necessary to secure all necessary ship equipment at the best possible purchase price prior to construction.

To date, the first five ships awarded in the 12-ship LPD 17 program are under contract to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. All are in various stages of construction at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems`` locations in New Orleans, and Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.

The first ship, San Antonio (LPD 17), is in New Orleans and scheduled for sea trials and delivery later this year. New Orleans (LPD 18), also under construction in New Orleans, is approximately 50 percent complete, and Mesa Verde (LPD 19), under construction in Pascagoula, is approximately 45 percent complete. LPD 18 and 19 are scheduled for launching and christening this fall. Green Bay (LPD 20) is approximately 15 percent complete, and start of construction began on New York (LPD 21) earlier this year. New York had 24 tons of steel from the south tower of the World Trade Center cast into its bowstem, the leading edge of the ship. Both New York and Green Bay are under construction in New Orleans.

The LPD 17 amphibious transport dock ships are 208.4 meters (684 feet) long and 31.9 meters (105 feet) wide and will replace the functions of the LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LDT 1179 classes of amphibious ships. The ships`` mission is to embark, transport and land elements of a landing force in an assault by helicopters, landing craft and amphibious vehicles to conduct an expeditionary warfare mission. Technological and design advances, including the insertion of lightweight, durable composites make the LPD 17 class the most sophisticated and survivable amphibious ship ever produced and marks a transformational change in advanced expeditionary warfighting.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems includes primary operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.; and in New Orleans and Tallulah, La., as well as in a network of fleet support offices in the U.S. and Japan. Ship Systems is one of the nation``s leading full-service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction and life-cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems

[Mannerl]

OUR TAKE

Northrop Grumman Avoids Shoals

As a lifelong registered Democrat who has only ever voted for Republican presidents, I have sympathies for both businesses and labor unions. So I was happy for both sides when on Saturday, United Steelworkers of America Local 8888 announced a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with Northrop Grumman`s (NYSE: NOC) Newport News shipbuilding subsidiary, fixing the terms through Oct. 2008.

Considering that the 8,500-member steelworkers union was on the verge of a strike, this is wonderful news for the defense contractor. The last thing it wanted was a repeat of 1999, when workers at Newport News (not owned by Northrop at that time) went on strike for 17 straight weeks. A similar walkout today would look bad for Northrop, which is participating alongside General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and British defense contractor BAE Systems (AMEX: BAE) in designing the Navy`s new Littoral combat ship (LCS). On the other hand, if it secures union approval of the labor agreement in a vote to be held Wednesday, Northrop could bolster its group`s bid to build the LCS, as it will be able to show it has a secure labor agreement all the way through the expected completion date of the prototype LCS.

[Mannerl]

Northrop Grumman CFO Sees 5%-7% 5-Yr US Defense Growth




06-16-04 02:13 PM EST
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The Department of Defense`s budget should increase at an annual rate of 5% to 7% over the next five years, Charles Noski, chief financial officer of defense giant Northrop Grumman said in a presentation Wednesday.

Some missile defense programs might be tweaked if Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry were to win the election this fall, Noski said at the Thomas Weisel Partners Growth Conference, but there will still be a need for homeland security funding, and keeping up with worldwide defense needs.

He said Democratic administrations in the past haven`t necessarily cut the defense budgets set by Republican predecessors. The U.S. military likely won`t be leaving Iraq and Afghanistan "any time soon", Noski said.

Northrop is well positioned for the future because it has a diversified customer portfolio, Noski maintained.

Current customers include the Navy, 34%; Air Force, 21%; other government, 18% ; Army, 7%; other defense, 8%; international, 9%; and U.S. commercial, 3%.

Information technology contracts now account for one-third of Northrop Grumman`s total revenues, Noski said. He sees good growth opportunities in that business.

The budget at Department of Homeland Security is beginning to take shape, Noski said. While homeland security is "an emerging market," he said. "It`s not going to take off like a rocket."

Northrop Grumman hasn`t changed its outlook for 2004 earnings per share from operations in a range of $5.60 to $5.90, Noski said, with "solid double digit" earnings per share growth next year.

He reiterated expectations for revenues of $28 billion in 2004 and $30 billion in 2005.

Noski didn`t comment on Northrop`s $1.6 billion takeover offer for defense company Titan Corp. (TTN). Titan is under scrutiny from both the Department of Justice and the SEC, for alleged bribery. If the problems aren`t resolved, Northrop can call off the deal on June 25.

[Mannerl]

U.S. Air Force Awards Enterprise Information Technology Contract to Northrop Grumman

HERNDON, Va., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by the U.S. Air Force to provide technical services in support of the transformation of its logistics combat support systems. The Air Force transformation goals are to improve the transmission of accurate, reliable and readily accessible logistics information to warfighters in support of combat initiatives.

Northrop Grumman``s Information Technology sector will share in task orders valued at up to $498 million over five years. The contract is administered by the Materiel Systems Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The scope of this contract includes software development, implementation of commercial off-the-shelf products (COTS) and enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) tools to update the Air Force``s combat support system. Northrop Grumman IT will also compete to administer the transition of logistics, finance, procurement and personnel to COTS and ERP tools in an effort to reduce long-term maintenance costs and increase system performance.

Northrop Grumman Information Technology, headquartered in Herndon, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company``s technological leadership spans such areas as homeland security solutions, secure wireless, cyber and physical assurance, IT and network infrastructure, managed services, knowledge management, modeling and simulation, and geospatial intelligence solutions.

Northrop Grumman Corporation

© PR Newswire

[Mannerl]

EADS und Northrop Grumman kooperieren bei Raketenabwehr

MÜNCHEN (Dow Jones-VWD)--Die European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co (EADS), Amsterdam, will auch mit dem US-Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grumman beim Bau von Raktenabwehrsystemen zusammenarbeiten. Die beiden Unternehmen hätten eine entsprechende Absichtserklärung unterzeichnet, teilten die EADS und Northrop Grumman am Donnerstag gemeinsam mit. Beide Partner würden nun verschiedende Geschäftsmöglichkeiten im wachsenden Markt von Raketenabwehrsystemen ausloten. Am Dienstag hatte der europäische Luft- und Raumfahrtkonzern bereits eine Absichtserklärung mit Lockheed Martin über eine Kooperation beim geplanten Raketenabwehrprogramm der USA unterzeichnet.

Medienberichten zufolge soll in die Zusammenarbeit auch der italienische Alenia-Konzern und die BAe Systems plc, London, einbezogen werden. Für die Rüstungsindustrie der europäischen Nato-Staaten würde ein Ausbau der Raketenabwehr je nach Umfang und Beteiligung den Berichten zufolge ein Multimilliardenprogramm bedeuten. Allerdings müssten die Regierungen zustimmen und das Geld dafür haben, hieß es. Branchenkenner sprechen von jährlich 8 Mrd USD, die von den USA in das Programm zur Raketenabwehr investiert werden.
Dow Jones Newswires/22.7.2004/mas/jhe

[Mannerl]

Northrop Grumman erhält Auftrag im Wert von über 400 Mio. Dollar

Der amerikanische Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grumman (Nachrichten) gab am Montag bekannt, dass er von der U.S. Army einen Auftrag im Gesamtwert von 408 Mio. Dollar erhalten hat. Im Rahmen des Abkommens wird Northrop Grumman militärische Trainingsprogramme für Angehörige der US-Streitkräfte anbieten.

Die IT-Sparte des Konzerns wird dabei die Planung und Durchführung von Trainingseinheiten für US-Kampfpiloten übernehmen, das ein realistisches Übungsprogramm zur Darstellung von Kampfsituationen ermöglichen soll. Dabei wird der Konzern im Rahmen des zehnjährigen Abkommens mit der Cubic Corp. sowie dem Consulting-Unternehmen Booz Allen Hamilton zusammenarbeiten.

[Mannerl]

Pentagon lässt neuen Phantomflieger bauen

Das US-Verteidigungsministerium lässt für eine Milliarde Dollar einen unbemannten Kampfjet entwickeln. Bis 2007 sind drei flugfähige Prototypen der "Stealth"-Drohne geplant, die feindliche Stellungen ausspionieren und bombardieren soll.


Geisterflieger für das vernetzte Schlachtfeld

Das US-Verteidigungsministerium intensiviert die Entwicklung unbemannter Kampfjets. Wie die Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), die Entwicklungsabteilung des Pentagon, auf ihrer Webseite mitteilte, soll der Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grumman bis 2007 mindestens drei flugfähige Prototypen einer Drohne mit der Bezeichnung X-47B fertig stellen.

Der Vertrag ist Teil der "Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems"-Initiative des Pentagon. Das Ministerium lässt derzeit in mehreren Einzelprojekten unbemannte Kampfflugzeuge entwickeln, die mit "Stealth"-Technologie vor Radar geschützt sind, mit integrierten Sensoren feindliche Stellungen auskundschaften, Luftabwehr-Stellungen angreifen und Präzisionsbombardements durchführen sollen.

Die X-47B soll einen Aktionsradius von etwa 2700 Kilometern besitzen und über 2000 Kilogramm an Bewaffnung tragen können. Um global einsatzfähig zu sein, soll das Flugzeug sowohl von normalen Luftwaffenstützpunkten als auch von Flugzeugträgern starten können und auch außerhalb direkter Sichtverbindung, also jenseits des Horizonts, steuerbar sein. Die ersten Testflüge sollen nach Angaben der Darpa 2007 an der US-Westküste stattfinden.


Der neue Kampfjet soll Teil des "vernetzten Schlachtfelds" der Zukunft werden, das die US-Streitkräfte durch eine erdrückende technologische Überlegenheit beherrschen wollen. "Die X-47B verspricht ein hoch leistungsfähiges Luftkampfsystem zu werden", sagte Scott Winship, bei Northrop Grumman zuständig für die Entwicklung unbemannter Kampfflugzeuge, der britischen BBC. "Es wird schwer zu entdecken sein und deshalb eine hohe Überlebensdauer haben, eine breites Arsenal an Sensoren und viel Raum für Waffen haben."

Die Darpa hatte erst Anfang dieses Monats einen Erfolg bei der Entwicklung bewaffneter Drohnen gemeldet. Zwei von Boeing gebaute X-45A-Jets erreichten am 4. August eine Geschwindigkeit von über 600 Kilometern pro Stunde in einer Höhe von fünf Kilometern. Nach Angaben der Darpa wurden bei dem Test zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte der Luftfahrt zwei unbemannte Maschinen zugleich von nur einem Piloten gesteuert. In einem früheren Versuch hatte eine ferngesteuerte X-45 bereits erfolgreich einen Lkw bombardiert.

[Mannerl]

26. August 2004 05:15

Northrop und BAE sollen Raketenabwehr für US-Flugzeuge bauen

WASHINGTON - Die Rüstungskonzerne Northrop Grumman und BAE Systems haben von der US-Regierung einen Auftrag für die Entwicklung eines Raketenabwehrsystems für zivile Flugzeuge erhalten.

Beide Konzerne sollten in den kommenden 18 Monaten einen Prototyp zur Abwehr Schulter gestützter Raketen herstellen, teilte das US-Heimatschutzministerium mit. Das Volumen dafür belaufe sich auf je 45 Millionen Dollar.

Damit stachen die Unternehmen die Muttergesellschaft der US-Fluggesellschaft United Airlines, UAL aus, die noch im Januar in die erste Phase des Projektes aufgenommen worden war. Der Markt für entsprechende Abwehrsysteme birgt Milliarden-Potenzial.

Die US-Regierung prüft derzeit die Kosten und den Nutzen einer Ausweitung der militärischen Raketenabwehr mittels Radarstörsendern auf die zivile Luftfahrt.

Allerdings gebe es momentan keine glaubwürdigen und konkreten Geheimdienst- Informationen über Anschlagspläne mit Schulter gestützten Raketen, sagte eine Sprecherin der Heimatschutzbehörde.

Nach früheren Angaben der US-Behörden wurden in den letzten Jahren mehr als 40 Flugzeuge durch solche Raketen getroffen. Sie hätten mindestens 24 Flugzeuge zum Absturz gebracht, wobei weltweit mehr als 600 Menschen getötet worden seien.

Allerdings sei nur einer dieser Angriffe ausserhalb einer Konfliktregion verübt worden. In den USA habe es keinen solchen Angriff gegeben. Die relativ geringen Kosten solcher Raketen von weniger als 1000 bis zu 100 000 Dollar pro Stück mache es für Terroristen attraktiv, sie gegen Verkehrsflugzeuge einzusetzen, hiess es. 260512 aug 04

[Mannerl]

Lockheed oder Raytheon kurz vor 6,4 Mrd. Dollar-Auftrag der U.S. Navy

Die U.S. Navy wird in den nächsten Tagen nach Angaben eines Sprechers die Entscheidung über die Vergabe eines 6,4 Mrd. Dollar schweren Auftrags an entweder die Lockheed Martin (Nachrichten) oder die Raytheon (Nachrichten) bekannt geben. Dabei geht es um die Errichtung eines Kommunikationssystems zur Verstärkung der Satellitendienste für die US-Truppen, das Weiße Haus und das US-Außenministerium. Mit einer Entscheidung wird frühestens am Freitag gerechnet.

Vergangenen Donnerstag hat das Defense Space Acquisitions Board des US-Verteidigungsministeriums das Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) bewilligt, das aus vier bis acht Satelliten besteht und Schiffen, Flugzeugen, U-Booten und Bodentruppen Schmalband-Kommunikation zur Verfügung stellen wird.

Wie Navy-Sprecher Steven Davis am Dienstag mitteilte, hat dieser Entscheid dem Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command der U.S. Navy den Weg geebnet, in den darauf folgenden zwei Wochen einen entsprechenden Auftrag auszuschreiben.

Das System, das 2010 einsatzbereit sein soll, hat den Angaben zufolge einen zehnmal höheren Datendurchsatz als das bisher von der Boeing Co. hergestellte Ultra High Frequency Follow-On System. Das heißt, es können zehnmal so viel Daten übertragen werden, was den US-Truppen eine verlässlichere Kommunikation ermögliche.

Das Konsortium um Lockheed Martin umfasst neben Boeing noch die General Dynamics Corp., während im Raytheon-Konsortium die Honeywell International Inc., die Northrop Grumman Corp. und die Loral Space and Communications Ltd. vertreten sind.

Das Volumen des Auftrags wird über die gesamte Laufzeit, die sich bis 2024 erstrecken kann, auf 6,4 Mrd. Dollar geschätzt.

[Mannerl]

IBM,Dassault Systemes Sign $2.9 Billion Contract With Northrop




10-26-04 01:33 AM EST
IBM and Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: 13065.FR, DSY.PA) today announced that Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC),

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Dassault Systemes SA (DATSY) Tuesday posted a 19% rise in third-quarter net profit due to revenue growth in both services and software licenses.

It said net profit rose to EUR32.3 million, up from EUR27.1 million in the same period a year earlier.

The company also said it has struck - along with partner International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) - a $2.9 billion deal with Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC).

It also said it has purchased European units from its partner Rand A Technology Corp. (RND.T).

"The strong increases in earnings...primarily reflected growth in revenue, operating income and financial revenue," the company said.

Quarterly operating profit rose to EUR46.1 million, up 8% from EUR42.6 million.

Third-quarter revenue at the Paris-based software design company was EUR188.0 million, versus EUR176.3 million, driven by the sale of software licenses and services.

[Micky_Maus]

NOC wieder ziemlich am unteren Ende, was die Kursentwicklung betrifft.

Die Auftragslage ist gut, das wird auch eine Weile so bleiben.

Würde im Moment aber nicht kaufen. Wer weiß, wie sich ein nicht ganz abwägiger Wahlsieg von John Kerry auf das Papier auswirkt. Könnte kurzfristig zu einem Schock führen, da Kerry wohl eher die Haushaltslage in Betracht zieht, anstatt immer neue Aufträge zu vergeben.

[Mannerl]

ja mittlerweile ist die Wahl ja wohl gelaufen...

...

Northrop sieht Möglichkeiten für Zusammenarbeit mit EADS
Dienstag 16 November, 2004 09:41 CET

Washington (Reuters) - Der US-Rüstungskonzern Northrop Grumman sieht im Geschäft mit Tankflugzeugen Möglichkeiten für eine Zusammenarbeit mit dem europäischen Branchenvertreter EADS.

Sollte das US-Verteidigungsministerium einen Wettbewerb ausschreiben, um die in die Jahre gekommene Flotte von Tankflugzeugen zu erneuern, werde das Unternehmen eine Kooperation mit EADS "ernsthaft erwägen", gab Northrop am Montag bekannt. "Wenn das Verteidigungsministerium einen fairen und offenen Wettbewerb für im Flug auftankende Flugzeuge eröffnet, würden wir unsere Optionen überprüfen", sagte Firmensprecher Randy Belote.

EADS hatte im Oktober angekündigt, sich mit einem US-Unternehmen zusammentun zu wollen, sollte der Wettbewerb für das mehrere Milliarden Dollar schwere Programm wiedereröffnet werden. Jedes an das US-Verteidigungsministerium verkaufte Flugzeug werde zu mehr als 50 Prozent aus US-Teilen bestehen, wie es die Regeln des Ministeriums vorsähen.

Vor wenigen Tagen hatte der Chefeinkäufer der US-Behörde, Michael Wynne, gesagt, er erwarte in Kürze eine Entscheidung darüber, ob die Ausschreibung wieder eröffnet werde. Rechtsexperten des Ministeriums prüfen derzeit noch, ob eine erneute Ausschreibung nötig ist, oder ob auch einfach die Bedingungen eines Angebots von EADS-Hauptkonkurrent Boeing für 80 Tankflugzeuge neu verhandelt werden können. Der Auftrag an Boeing war auf Eis gelegt worden, nachdem die frühere Chefeinkäuferin der US-Luftwaffe, Darleen Druyun, vor einem Gericht aussagte, sie habe von Boeing einen höheren Preis akzeptiert, als sie für gerechtfertigt gehalten habe, bevor sie einen mit 250.000 Dollar dotierten Führungsposten bei dem Unternehmen angetreten habe.

Mit Northrop erwägt nun schon das zweite US-Rüstungsunternehmen eine Zusammenarbeit mit EADS. Lockheed Martin hat bereits angekündigt, ebenfalls über eine Zusammenarbeit mit den Europäern nachzudenken.