Northrop might jump back into NGAD competition: CEO

Northrop Grumman might seek to join the competition to build the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter jet if the service rethinks its original requirements for the platform, the company’s CEO said Thursday.

Air Force officials announced this summer that they were pausing the Next Generation Air Dominance program to figure out whether it has the right design and operational concepts for the planned aircraft. Northrop announced last year that it would not compete to build NGAD, leaving Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the running, but company officials now say they might reconsider that decision—if NGAD requirements change following the pause. 

“If they determine that there will be a material change to the program, we would go back and re-evaluate, just as we would any new opportunity, whether we think that it is a program that we’re well-differentiated to perform, whether we view the business case as one that makes sense for our company and our investors, and we would look at new alternatives. So we’re monitoring that one,” Kathy Warden said today during Morgan Stanley’s 12th Annual Laguna Conference.

In July, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said his service is pausing the NGAD program for a few months to make sure it’s right “before we commit to moving forward on a single design and a single supplier.”

Warden did not say why Northrop originally decided not to bid on NGAD or what kind of material change would lead the company to reconsider. 

The company is still vying for the Navy’s sixth-generation fighter jet, F/A-XX. Warden said the company expects the Navy to pick a winner for F/A-XX next year, even though the service gutted funding for the program in its most recent budget request.