Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Spends $10.86 Million on Lobbying with 29 Revolving Door Officials

| Importance: 8/10

Northrop Grumman spent $10.86 million on federal lobbying in 2023, employing 36 lobbyists of whom 29—a staggering 80.6 percent—had previously worked in government positions, exemplifying the revolving door between the Pentagon, Congress, and defense contractors that enables systematic corruption of …

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Biden Nominates Frank Kendall for Air Force Secretary After $702,000 in Northrop Grumman Consulting Fees

| Importance: 9/10

President Joe Biden nominated Frank Kendall for Air Force Secretary in May 2021 despite Kendall having received $702,319 in consulting fees from Northrop Grumman as part of a $300,000 per year consulting contract after serving as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics …

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Northrop Grumman Wins $13.3 Billion Contract for Ground Based Strategic Deterrent Nuclear ICBMs

| Importance: 10/10

The Department of the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract on September 8, 2020, to develop the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile system, initiating the engineering and manufacturing development phase of a program estimated to cost between …

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Northrop Grumman Pays $5.2 Million for Fraudulent USPS Contract Labor Billing

| Importance: 7/10

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation agreed to pay $5.2 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it fraudulently billed the United States Postal Service for personnel who lacked the required education and experience qualifications specified in their contract labor categories. The …

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Northrop Grumman Pays $31.65 Million for Fraudulent Overbilling of Air Force Contracts

| Importance: 8/10

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation agreed to pay $31.65 million to settle civil and criminal charges for systematically defrauding the U.S. Air Force by overbilling labor hours on battlefield communications contracts between January 2011 and October 2013. The settlement included $27.45 million for …

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Northrop Grumman Acquires Orbital ATK for $9.2 Billion, Creating Solid Rocket Motor Monopoly

| Importance: 9/10

Northrop Grumman completed its $9.2 billion acquisition of Orbital ATK on June 6, 2018, gaining control of the premier supplier of solid rocket motors essential for missile systems and creating anticompetitive market dominance that the Federal Trade Commission warned would “reduce competition …

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Former Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh Joins Northrop Grumman Board After B-21 Bomber Contract Award

| Importance: 9/10

Retired General Mark Welsh joined Northrop Grumman’s board of directors just five months after retiring as Air Force Chief of Staff and barely one year after the company won the $21.4 billion initial contract to build the B-21 Raider next-generation stealth bomber, exemplifying the revolving …

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Northrop Grumman Wins $80 Billion B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Contract

| Importance: 10/10

The U.S. Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman a development contract for the B-21 Raider Long Range Strike Bomber on October 27, 2015, with an initial value of $21.4 billion that could eventually reach $80 billion over the program’s lifetime, representing one of the largest defense …

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Northrop Grumman Pays $11.4 Million for Illegally Billing Executive Compensation to Federal Contracts

| Importance: 8/10

Northrop Grumman Corporation paid the United States $11.4 million to settle government claims that it violated a 2002 settlement agreement with the Defense Contract Management Agency by improperly charging federal contracts for deferred compensation awards to key executives, demonstrating how …

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Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Drone Costs Surge to $222 Million Per Aircraft

| Importance: 8/10

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone program experienced massive cost escalation, with per-unit costs exploding from an initial $60.9 million in 2001 to $222.7 million per aircraft (including development costs) by 2013—a nearly four-fold increase that forced the Air Force to …

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Northrop B-2 Bomber Operating Costs Reach $150,000 Per Flight Hour

| Importance: 8/10

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber’s operating costs reached approximately $150,000 per flight hour according to U.S. Department of Defense estimates, making it the most expensive military aircraft to operate in history and generating massive ongoing revenue for Northrop Grumman …

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Northrop Grumman Pays $325 Million for Decade of Defective Spy Satellite Parts

| Importance: 9/10

Northrop Grumman Corporation and its predecessor TRW Inc. agreed to pay $325 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that they provided and billed the National Reconnaissance Office for defective microelectronic parts used in classified spy satellites over a decade-long period from 1992 to …

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Air Force Secretary James Roche Appointed After 17 Years as Northrop Grumman Executive

| Importance: 9/10

President George W. Bush appointed James G. Roche as Secretary of the Air Force in 2001 despite—or perhaps because of—Roche’s 17-year career as a top executive at Northrop Grumman, one of the Air Force’s largest contractors, exemplifying the revolving door that enables defense industry …

James G. Roche Northrop Grumman U.S. Air Force Department of Defense George W. Bush revolving door military-industrial complex defense contractors corruption conflicts of interest +1 more
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