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Northrop Grumman
"Defining
the future."
CEO: Ronald D. Sugar
Defense Contracts, 1998-2003:
$33.8 billion
Campaign Contributions, 1998-2003:
$1,253,025 (Democrat),
$2,455,975 (Republican)
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Website: http://www.northropgrumman.com/
Overview
The overview of Northrop Grumman
will be completed soon.
In the meantime, the prolife of TRW, which Northrop Grumman
bought in December 2002, is below.
TRW
"Defense and intelligence. Terms synonymous with peace
of mind."
TRW is one of the Big Four weapons manufacturers,
along with Lockheed Martin, Boeing,
and Raytheon. These four companies
received one out of every four dollars allocated by the Pentagon.
In missile defense, their monopoly is even more complete;
these four companies received 60-70% of all the contracts
doled out by the Pentagon.
TRW’s Campaign Contributions
and Lobbying Expenditures
In the last ten years, as TRW solidified its position as one
of the Big Four weapons contractors, its political giving
has steadily increased, more than doubling since 1990. From
1990 through 2002, TRW donated more than $2 million to members
of Congress. Spending on lobbyists to push their agenda in
Washington was even larger, in the last three years for which
data is available (1999-1997), TRW spent more than $3 million
on lobbyists.
TRW also has friends in high places. Vice-president Dick Cheney,
who served as Defense Secretary under Bush’s father,
sat on TRW’s board. During the Bush Cheney campaign,
Cheney proudly recalled that, "as a congressman, I supported
every weapons bill that came down the pike."
Redefining
War
TRW Inc.’s research lab is developing hand held computers
for infantry soldiers. The so-called Force 21 Battle Command
Brigade and Below is a hand held computer designed to tell
soldiers exactly where they are, where they should go and
where the enemy is. These computers, linked to satellites,
and to remote command and control rooms, "tap the video game
skills of young soldiers, enabling them to instantly pinpoint
their position, find enemies and aim weapons."
"We are redefining war," says Col. John Antal, of the 16th
Calvary Regiment in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. With a $57 million
contract from the Pentagon, TRW has produced 2,000 units and
has received another $47 million for 1,600 more. That is $28,500
for each device. The Pentagon hopes that eventually these
hand held devices, no larger than a palm pilot, will be standard
issue to all infantry soldiers. TRW hopes so too.
Conflict
of Interest
Bechtel replaced TRW Environmental
Safety Systems, a subsidiary of TRW Inc., as the prime contractor
at the Yucca Mountain site in February 2001 after allegations
that Yucca Mountain managers were biased and cozy with the
nuclear industry. Yucca Mountain, a 100 miles northwest of
Las Vegas, is a possible repository for 77,000 tons of nuclear
waste.
In January 2001, the Department of Energy initiated an investigation
of TRW’s management of Yucca Mountain that centers on
one of TRW’s internal memorandums and report for the
DOE. In the report, TRW asserts that "all evidence to date
indicates that Yucca Mountain is suitable for a [nuclear]
repository." TRW stressed that the nuclear waste dump would
be safe for 10,000 years, despite the fact that none of the
safety studies on Yucca Mountain have been completed and the
safety standards upon which such judgements would be made
have not even been set yet. The accompanying cover letter
implied that the report could be used as a political lobbying
tool to advocate the construction of a high-level nuclear
waste repository at Yucca Mountain, saying "the overview presents
a Yucca Mountain repository as the key component in DOE’s
proposed solution to the nuclear waste problem."
As Representative Shelley Berkeley (D-NV) called the report
part of TRW’s "pattern of deception" to accelerate process
of bringing nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain and observed that,
"It is unconscionable, if not illegal, for DOE to employ contractors
who make irresponsible recommendations before the scientific
research of Yucca Mountain is completed." Senator Henry Reid
(D-NV) concurred saying that TRW’s report revealed "deception
and a lack of judgment."
TRW’s
Consumer Products
TRW Inc., the No. 2 maker of airbags, eliminated 1,000 jobs
at the company’s automotive unit, hoping to lower expenses
by about $40 million a year. TRW’s automotive division
also makes braking systems, steering and suspension systems,
as well as electronic safety and security systems. About 64%
of TRW’s sales, which totaled $17.2 billion last year,
came from automotive parts, and the remainder from space and
military products.
TRW:
Owner of a Private Military Corporation
TRW subsidiary Vinnell built the beloved and historic Dodger
Stadium. But it has a dark side too. In 1975 a Pentagon official
described the company, which had 5,000 employees in Vietnam,
as "our own little mercenary army." For the last 22 years,
Vinnell’s most lucrative contract has been with the
Saudi Arabian National Guard, which, according to journalist
Ken Silverstein, "protects royal family from internal unrest
and guards strategic oil installations." Vinnell has about
1,000 employees in Saudi Arabia, including many retired U.S.
Army Special Forces. Vinnell employees were deployed in Saudi
units during the Gulf War and received bonus pay for hazardous
duty.
For more information please see Eureka
County Yucca Mountain Information Office and Citizen
Alert of Nevada
This research and report
was compiled by Frida Berrigan for the Arms
Trade Resource Center of the World
Policy Institute.
Aerospace Contributions
This information is also available as
a printable, PDF fact
sheet!
Programs and
Products:
Northrop Grumman’s missile defense contracts increased
fivefold from $104 million in 2001 to $534 in 2004, largely
due to its acquisition
of TRW, a major missile defense and space
contractor. Now one of the top four missile defense contractors,
Northrop Grumman is a major player in the emerging space weapons
industry.
In June 2003, Northrop Grumman became the prime
contractor on the eight-year, $4.5 billion Kinetic
Energy Interceptor project for the US Missile Defense Agency.
Kinetic Energy Interceptors are intended to be launched into
space to take out enemy missiles by smashing into them.
Kinetic Energy Interceptors also have potential
applications as anti-satellite weapons, because the same
technology is necessary for an attack on satellites. Northrop
Grumman’s work on the Space
Based Laser Integrated Flight Experiment, cancelled in 2002,
could also be applied
to the design of satellites capable of destroying objects in
space by crashing into them. This laser experiment was
inteded to consist of a single satellite carrying a laser and
beam controls; it would theoretically have been able to target
missiles from space, rather than from the ground.
Northrop Grumman has supplied
the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s
missile attack warning system with satellites and sensors since
1970. Now, Northrop Grumman is developing
a sensor for the Missile Defense Agency’s Space
Tracking and Surveillance System. The sensor will
detect possible hostile satellites, and relay data to missile
interceptors. The 2002 contract is worth $868.7 million.
As prime contractor, Northrop Grumman is responsible not just
for the senor but also for two satellites and engineering support.
Northrop Grumman has also developed
sensors for the missile-tracking Space-Based
Infrared System. The system consists of a constellation
of satellites capable of tracking ballistic missiles throughout
their flight course. It is designed to operate worldwide 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. Northrop Grumman is responsible
for the program’s design, and integration with the Ballistic
Missile Defense system. Northrop is also in charge of
the Space Based Surveillance System.
Along with Boeing and Lockheed
Martin, Northrop Grumman is a member of the Airborne
Laser team selected by the US Air Force. The Airborne Laser
is intended to destroy hostile missiles right as they are launched,
before the warheads separate from the missile. Northrop
Grumman’s task is to design and develop the system’s
Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser and the Beacon Illuminator Laser.
Northrop Grumman was also the primary contractor for Mobile
Tactical High Energy Lasers, which are intended
to intercept rockets, missiles, and other aerial threats. It
is the first “reusable interception element,” as
opposed to non-reusable kinetic energy kill vehicles, which
are destroyed when they smash into their targets. Funding for
this program was cut in 2004; its future remains unknown.
Northrop Grumman also plays an engineering and analysis role
in some of the US military’s biggest missile defense projects.
Its contribution to the Ground-based
Midcourse Defense is the Fire Control/Communications System,
which guides the interceptors to their targets. Meanwhile,
for the Missile Defense Agency’s Joint National Integration
Center, Northrop Grumman handles modeling and simulation for
testing components of the US missile defense system.
TRW
Since the 1950s, TRW has designed and manufactured unmanned
spacecraft for both scientific and defense purposes. TRW’s
Pioneer 1 was launched in 1958 as NASA’s first step into
space. Since then, TRW has built nearly
200 spacecraft.
In the 1990s, TRW acquired BDM International, Inc., which served
the US Department of Defense and international defense agencies.
Since then, TRW has been involved with the Department of Defense’s
Ballistic Missile Defense program, both through Ballistic Missile
Defense program contracts and through the United Missile Defense
Corporation, a joint
venture including TRW. TRW built
twenty-three Defense Support Program
satellites, which provide detection and early warning of missile
launches against the US.
TRW was also responsible for battle management command, control,
and communications at the Ground-based
Midcourse Defense system. The seven-year, $564 million subcontract
was given to TRW by Boeing in August 2001. TRW’s work
on the National Missile Defense system is infamous, due to allegations
by a former employee, Nira Schwartz, that TRW repeatedly lied
about test results to the Pentagon in the mid-1990s. The tests
were to see if the system’s interceptor component, a hit-to-kill
vehicle, could distinguish warheads from balloons. TRW told
the government that the system was correct 95 percent of the
time, while Schwartz argued it only worked 5 to 15 percent of
the time. After she repeatedly appealed to her boss and
collegues to alert the military and other contractors to her
findings, Schwartz was fired.
Northrop Grumman acquired
TRW for $7.8 billion in December 2002, making Northrop Grumman
the second-largest arms contractor in the US. TRW’s
space and defense electronics operations also brought Northrop
Grumman an increased share of the Pentagon’s defense budget.
This research and report was
compiled by Ray Acheson of Reaching
Critical Will in February 2007 in coordination with the
Secure World
Foundation.
For More Profiles:
See TRW's PDF
Dirty Dozen profile.
Alliant Techsystems
BAE Systems
Bechtel Corporation
Boeing
British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
General Dynamics
IBM
Lockheed Martin
Mitsubishi
Raytheon
Siemens
University of California
Dirty Dozen Annex
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