Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is an American aerospace and defence company formed in 1994 through the merger of Northrop Corporation, founded in 1939, and Grumman Corporation, founded in 1929. The combined company is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, and operates across all fifty US states and roughly two dozen other countries.

Northrop Grumman's unmanned-aircraft portfolio spans high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance platforms and combat-drone demonstrators. The RQ-4 Global Hawk is its long-running high-altitude reconnaissance UAV for the US Air Force, and the MQ-4C Triton is a related maritime-surveillance derivative built for the US Navy and export customers including Australia. The company also built the X-47B, a tailless carrier-capable unmanned combat air system demonstrator, alongside naval helicopter drones such as the MQ-8B and MQ-8C Fire Scout, and the long-serving RQ-5 Hunter.

The US armed forces are Northrop Grumman's principal unmanned-systems customer, with additional Triton sales to Australia's Royal Australian Air Force.