Northrop Grumman signs $3 billion in deals to accelerate missile interceptor production

Northrop Grumman has signed two multi-year framework agreements totalling over $3 billion to increase US missile interceptor production. Working with the US Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin, the company is increasing production and accelerating delivery of critical munitions technologies and reinforcing the nation’s integrated air and missile defence. Areas covered include: Accelerating PAC-3 MSE Solid Rocket Motor: Northrop Grumman will accelerate production of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE), to meet the increasing global demand. Under the $2 billion framework agreement, the company will supply essential components, including solid rocket motors and ignition safety devices, supporting the nation’s integrated air and missile defence. Quadrupling Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Component Production: The $1 billion framework agreement will enable Northrop Grumman to significantly increase monthly deliveries of THAAD components over seven years. As a result of investments made since 2021, the company said it is doubling the capacity to deliver solid rocket motors at its Utah facilities, nearly tripling the capacity at the Allegany Ballistics Lab in West Virginia and increasing solid rocket motor capacity by 25% at its Elkton, Maryland facility. Ben Davies, corporate vice president at Northrop Grumman, said: “Our long-term investments in breakthrough manufacturing technologies and resilient supply chains let us pivot from steady production to a production surge in record time. As one of America’s leading producers of solid rocket motors, we’re supporting the administration’s push to accelerate munitions output. It’s a mission-critical leap forward that ensures America’s defense edge stays sharper, faster, and farther ahead of global threats.” Over the course of the seven-year framework agreement, Northrop Grumman will significantly increase PAC-3 MSE SRM production rates at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia. Since 2021, the company has doubled its production capacity for tactical solid rocket motors at ABL and plans to triple production capabilities by 2027. This investment supports the U.S. Army’s growth in annual PAC-3 MSE missile production from roughly 600 units today to thousands in the near term for U.S. forces and allied partners. This exceptional production surge will provide speed, volume and precision required for integrated air and missile defense as global demand for the PAC-3 MSE system reaches unprecedented levels. Since 2002, Northrop Grumman has supplied THAAD with critical expertise for interceptor shell cores, aft bulkheads and heat shield assemblies, leveraging proprietary bonding technology to survive the highest-temperature kinetic missions. The company’s San Diego plant has a 50-year legacy of high-volume, high-rate production of structural components across air, land and space domains. Northrop Grumman’s propulsion systems and munitions components – ranging from fixed ammunition to warheads and fuzes – serve every branch of the U.S. military with ready-now scalability and consistent performance. Since 2019, Northrop Grumman has invested over $2 billion in munitions related technologies and facilities, including over $1 billion for solid rocket motor production. Northrop Grumman regularly invests in its Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator program, which is an outcome-driven effort to insert industry-informed advancements into the company’s own solid rocket motor design, development production and testing. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]