Northrop Grumman has won the contract to build the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier in the Gerald Ford Class. The USS Gerald R. Ford, CVN-78, is expected to launch in 2015.
Northrop Grumman will take a charge of at least $320 million because wiring problems will delay delivery of a ship it built for the U.S. Navy. The military contractor and shipbuilder said it expected to deliver the LHD-8 ship during the 2Q 2009, instead of November 2008. NOC stated it would take a pretax charge between $320 million and $360 million, or between 61 and 69 cents a share, in the first quarter for costs associated with the delay.
The Air Force awarded a $35 billion dollar aerial refueling tanker contract to rival EADS NV and its partner Northrop Grumman. Boeing had been supplying the refuelers to the Air Force for almost 50 years and was expected to win the deal. The deal, which only would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs at Boeing and more than 300 suppliers in the more than 40 states, is the first of three Air Force awards worth as much as $100 billion to replace its entire refuelingtanker fleet over the next 30 years. Boeing would have used Pratt & Whitney engines. Instead, EADS NV will use General Electric engines. Members of the US Congress are in an uproar about the idea of the contract being in foreign hands and are appalled at how many American jobs will be lost. The Northrop/EADS contract is expected to add just 2,000 new American jobs, compared to the 44,000 expected with Boeing in charge.
