Orbital ATK wins $90M Northrop Grumman contract to extend life of B-2 military aircraft with composite components

DULLES, Va. Orbital ATK (NYSE:OA) in Dulles, Virginia, won an initial five-year, $90 million contract from Northrop Grumman in Falls Church, Va., to produce composite components for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber military aircraft, with an option for follow-on orders. Orbital ATK staff will perform Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) and produce 17 Hot Trailing Edge (HTE) composite parts at the company’s Aerospace Structures Division facility in Dayton, Ohio, later this year.

The U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is a key component of the nation's long-range strike arsenal, and considered one of the most survivable aircraft in the world. Its stealth characteristics enable it to penetrate the most sophisticated enemy defenses and hold at risk high value, heavily defended targets, officials say.

“We are honored to partner with Northrop Grumman to extend the service life of the B-2 bomber," says Steve Earl, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s Aerospace Structures Division. “This program capitalizes on our core competency of providing advanced composite structures that use innovative Orbital ATK manufacturing processes to fit our customer’s needs.”

In its aerospace composites business, Orbital ATK uses proprietary production processes that shorten the manufacturing cycle and produce high quality, complex components with unmatched repeatability through sophisticated robotics automation, according to company officials.

Orbital ATK, a provider of aerospace and defense technologies, designs, builds, and delivers space, defense, and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in several international locations.

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