Northrop Grumman projects more opportunity on international market

A Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle in flight. (Northrop Grumman)

Northrop Grumman sees technology leadership at the core of its business strategy, “which has delivered for us 30% growth from 2019 to 2024” while growing backlog to a record of more than USD91 billion, Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman, said at the Citi Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, on 19 February. This growth is driven by both domestic and international customers, Warden said, touting a domestic book-to-bill ratio of 1.23 in 2024 and an international book-to-bill ratio of 1.4. “Our international sales are growing even faster than our US sales and as we look forward into 2025, we've provided guidance that suggests that top-line growth will continue,” she said.

Innovation

Warden sees Northrop Grumman as well placed to take advantage of the accelerating need for technology innovation, arguing that that is how the company brings value to customers. “We don't develop capability that isn't leading-edge technology that can help our customers have an advantage,” she said.

The pace of change in technology continues to accelerate, “so we have really focused our company on being able to continue to innovate and in many cases out-innovating ourselves”, she said, adding that “we are replacing our own best thinking on much shorter increments now”. Northrop Grumman must continue to “out-innovate” itself to stay ahead of industry competitors and provide the advantage that customers are seeking, Warden explained.