Magnetosphere

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Play media

A rendering of the magnetic field lines of Earth's magnetosphere

A magnetosphere is the area of space near an astronomical object in which charged particles are controlled by that object's magnetic field.^[1][2] Near the surface of the object, the magnetic field lines resemble those of a magnetic dipole. Farther away from the surface, the field lines are significantly distorted by electric currents flowing in the plasma (e.g. in ionosphere or solar wind).^[3][4] When speaking about Earth, magnetosphere is typically used to refer to the outer layer of the ionosphere,^[3] although some sources consider the ionosphere and magnetosphere to be separate.^[2]

History

Study of Earth's magnetosphere began in 1600, when William Gilbert discovered that the magnetic field on the surface of Earth resembled that on a terrella, a small, magnetized sphere. In the 1940s, Walter M. Elsasser proposed the model of dynamo theory, which attributes Earth's magnetic field to the motion of Earth's iron outer core. Through the use of magnetometers, scientists were able to study the variations in Earth's magnetic field as functions of both time and latitude and longitude. Beginning in the late 1940s, rockets were used to study cosmic rays. In 1958, Explorer 1, the first of the Explorer series of space missions, was launched to study the intensity of cosmic rays above the atmosphere and measure the fluctuations in this activity. This mission observed the existence of the Van Allen radiation belt (located in the inner region of Earth's magnetosphere), with the Explorer 3 mission later that year definitively proving its existence. Also in 1958, Eugene Parker proposed the idea of the solar wind. In 1959, the term magnetosphere was proposed by Thomas Gold. The Explorer 12 mission in 1961 led to the observation by Cahill and Amazeen in 1963 of a sudden decrease in the strength of the magnetic field near the noon meridian, later named the magnetopause. In 1983, the International Cometary Explorer observed the magnetotail, or the distant magnetic field.^[4]

Types

The structure and behavior of magnetospheres is dependent on several variables: the type of astronomical object, the nature of sources of plasma and momentum, the period of the object's spin, the nature of the axis whereabout the object spins, the axis of the magnetic dipole, and the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the flow of solar wind.

The distance at which a planet can withstand the solar wind pressure is called the Chapman–Ferraro distance. This is modeled by a formula wherein $R_{P}$ represents the radius of the planet, $B_{{surf}}$ represents the magnetic field on the surface of the planet at the equator, and $V_{{SW}}$ represents the velocity of the solar wind.
$R_{{CF}}=R_{{P}}\left({\frac {B_{{surf}}^{2}}{\mu _{{0}}\rho V_{{SW}}^{2}}}\right)^{{{\frac {1}{6}}}}$
A magnetosphere is classified as "intrinsic" when $R_{{CF}}\gg R_{{P}}$, or when the primary opposition to the flow of solar wind is the magnetic field of the object. Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Ganymede, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune exhibit intrinsic magnetospheres. A magnetosphere is classified as "induced" when $R_{{CF}}\ll R_{P}$, or when the solar wind is not opposed by the object's magnetic field. In this case, the solar wind interacts with the atmosphere or ionosphere of the planet (or surface of the planet, if the planet has no atmosphere). Venus has an induced magnetic field, which means that because Venus appears to have no internal dynamo effect, the only magnetic field present is that formed by the solar wind's wrapping around the physical obstacle of Venus (see also Venus' induced magnetosphere). When $R_{{CF}}\approx R_{P}$, the planet itself and its magnetic field both contribute. It is possible that Mars is of this type.^[5]

Structure

An artist's rendering of the structure of a magnetosphere. 1) Bow shock. 2) Magnetosheath. 3) Magnetopause. 4) Magnetosphere. 5) Northern tail lobe. 6) Southern tail lobe. 7) Plasmasphere.

Bow shock

Infrared image and artist's concept of the bow shock around R Hydrae

The bow shock forms the outermost layer of the magnetosphere: the boundary between the magnetosphere and the ambient medium. For stars, this is usually the boundary between the stellar wind and interstellar medium; for planets, the speed of the solar wind there plummets as it approaches the magnetopause.^[6]

Magnetosheath

The magnetosheath is the region of the magnetosphere between the bow shock and the magnetopause. It is formed mainly from shocked solar wind, though it contains a small amount of plasma from the magnetosphere.^[7] It is an area exhibiting high particle energy flux, where the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field varies erratically. This is caused by the collection of solar wind gas that has effectively undergone thermalization. It acts as a cushion that transmits the pressure from the flow of the solar wind and the barrier of the magnetic field from the object.^[4]

Magnetopause

The magnetopause is the area of the magnetosphere wherein the pressure from the planetary magnetic field is balanced with the pressure from the solar wind.^[3] It is the convergence of the shocked solar wind from the magnetosheath with the magnetic field of the object and plasma from the magnetosphere. Because both sides of this convergence contain magnetized plasma, the interactions between them are very complex. The structure of the magnetopause depends upon the Mach number and beta of the plasma, as well as the magnetic field.^[8] The magnetopause changes size and shape as the pressure from the solar wind fluctuates.^[9]

Magnetotail

Opposite the compressed magnetic field is the magnetotail, where the magnetosphere extends far beyond the astronomical object. It contains two lobes, referred to as the northern and southern tail lobes. The northern tail lobe points towards the object and the southern tail lobe points away. The tail lobes are almost empty, with very few charged particles opposing the flow of the solar wind. The two lobes are separated by a plasma sheet, an area where the magnetic field is weaker and the density of charged particles is higher.^[10]

Earth's magnetosphere

Artist's rendition of Earth's magnetosphere

Diagram of Earth's magnetosphere

Over Earth's equator, the magnetic field lines become almost horizontal, then return to connect back again at high latitudes. However, at high altitudes, the magnetic field is significantly distorted by the solar wind and its solar magnetic field. On the dayside of Earth, the magnetic field is significantly compressed by the solar wind to a distance of approximately 65,000 kilometers (40,000 mi). Earth's bow shock is about 17 kilometers (11 mi) thick^[11] and located about 90,000 kilometers (56,000 mi) from Earth.^[12] The magnetopause exists at a distance of several hundred kilometers off Earth's surface. Earth's magnetopause has been compared to a sieve because it allows solar wind particles to enter. Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities occur when large swirls of plasma travel along the edge of the magnetosphere at a different velocity from the magnetosphere, causing the plasma to slip past. This results in magnetic reconnection, and as the magnetic field lines break and reconnect, solar wind particles are able to enter the magnetosphere.^[13] On Earth's nightside, the magnetic field extends in the magnetotail, which lengthwise exceeds 6,300,000 kilometers (3,900,000 mi).^[3] Earth's magnetotail is the primary source of the polar aurora.^[10] Also, NASA scientists have suggested or "speculated" that Earth's magnetotail can cause "dust storms" on the Moon by creating a potential difference between the day side and the night side.^[14]

Other objects

The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary magnetosphere in the Solar System, extending up to 7,000,000 kilometers (4,300,000 mi) on the dayside and almost to the orbit of Saturn on the nightside.^[15] Jupiter's magnetosphere is stronger than Earth's by an order of magnitude, and its magnetic moment is approximately 18,000 times larger.^[16]

Northrop Grumman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: NOC S&P 500 Component
Founded	1994
Headquarters	2980 Fairview Park Drive, West Falls Church, Virginia, United States (Falls Church mailing address)
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Aircraft carriers Military aircraft Military vessels Missile defense systems Satellites Information technology Advanced electronic sensors and systems
Revenue	US$24.661 billion (2013)[1]
Operating income	US$3.123 billion (2013)[1]
Profit	US$1.952 billion (2013)[1]
Total assets	US$26.381 billion (2013)[2]
Total equity	US$10.62 billion (2013)[2]
Number of employees	68,100 (2012)[3]
Website	NorthropGrumman.com

Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by Northrop's 1994 purchase of Grumman. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010.^[4] Northrop Grumman employs over 68,000 people worldwide.^[5] It reported revenues of $25.218 billion in 2012.^[6] Northrop Grumman ranks No. 72 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations^[7] and ranks in the top ten military-friendly employers.^[8] It is headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia.

Business sectors

Northrop Grumman is made up of four business sectors: Aerospace Systems, Electronic Systems, Information Systems and Technical Services.^[9]

Aerospace Systems

Northrop Grumman manufactured the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber.

A BQM-74 Chukar unmanned aerial drone launches from a US Navy vessel

Aerospace Systems, headquartered in Redondo Beach, California produce aircraft, spacecraft, high-energy laser systems and microelectronics for the US and other nations. This includes surveillance and reconnaissance, protected communications, intelligence, battle management, strike operations, electronic warfare, and missile defense to Earth observation, space science and space exploration.^[10] The B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the E-8C Joint STARS surveillance aircraft, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, are used by the US Air Force. The US Army uses Northrop Grumman's RQ-5 Hunter unmanned air vehicle, which have been in operational use for more than 10^[timeframe?] years. The U.S. Navy uses Northrop Grumman-built aerial vehicles such as the BQM-74 Chukar, RQ-4 Global Hawk based BAMS UAS, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, and the EA-6B Prowler. Northrop Grumman provides major components and assemblies for different aircraft such as F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006, Northrop Grumman intended to bid for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation strategic bomber project. Though it has not built a large manned aircraft since wrapping up B-2 Spirit production in the 1990s, the company has "been working hard to turn that perception around, with the skills and capabilities that back it up."^[11] It continues to build the RQ-4 Global Hawk, with many of the same long endurance and sensor technologies that are required for bombers.^{[citation needed]}

Northrop Grumman partnered with EADS from the mid-2000s to offer the KC-30 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft^[12] in the U.S. Air Force's KC-X tanker competition.^[13] In February 2008 the U.S. Air Force chose KC-30,^[14] but in September 2008 the Defense Department stopped the tanker program and in March 2010, Northrop Grumman announced it was withdrawing from the competition.^[15]

In November 2010, NASA selected Northrop Grumman for consideration of potential contract awards for heavy lift launch vehicle system concepts, and propulsion technologies.^[16]

From 2013, Northrop Grumman participates in the DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node(TERN) program, and received $2.9 million for Phase 1^[17] and $19 million for Phase 2.^[18][19] The TERN program attempts to launch and recover a UAV from mid-size ships to provide long distance intelligence gathering.^[20]

Electronic Systems

Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, headquartered in Linthicum, Maryland creates military radar, sensors and related products, including C4I radar systems for air defense, Airspace Management radar systems such as AMASS, and battlefield surveillance systems like the Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL). Tactical aircraft sensors include the AN/APG-68 radar, the AN/APG-80 advanced agile beam fire control radar Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), and the scalable agile beam radar (SABR) AESA upgrade for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the AN/APG-77 AESA radar for the F-22 Raptor, and the AN/APG-81 AESA radar for the F-35 Lightning II, and the AN/AAQ-37 electro-optical Distributed Aperture System (DAS) for the F-35, and the APQ-164 Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA) radar for the B-1 Lancer.^{[citation needed]} Electronic Systems produces and maintains the AWACS aerial surveillance systems for the U.S., the United Kingdom, NATO, Japan, and others. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the development and integration of the Air Force's $2-billion Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program. Many other smaller products are made by Northrop Grumman, such as night vision goggles and secure communications equipment.^{[citation needed]}

Information Systems

Information Systems, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, supports the U.S. ballistic missile program, integrates various command, control and intelligence systems and provides technical and management services to governmental and military customers, all with an emphasis on cyber security.

Technical Services

The Techical Services sector headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, works on logistics solutions "from modernization and sustainment, to supply chain management, training and simulation, and automated test equipment".^[21] Vinnell, a Technical Services Northrop Grumman subsidiary, provides training and communications for the military. In 2003, it landed a $48 million contract to train the Iraqi Army.^[22] In 2005 the company won a $2 billion contract with Virginia to overhaul most of the state's IT operations.^[23] Later that year, The United Kingdom paid $1.2 billion in a contract with the company to provide maintenance of the country's defensive radar.^[24]

Northrop Grumman performs various functions in the War on Drugs. The company sends planes to spray herbicides on suspected cocaine fields in Colombia and opium poppy, fields in Afghanistan.^[25][26]

Affiliated companies and partners

Remotec, a subsidiary, is the foremost manufacturer of remote control vehicles for explosive ordnance disposal and hazardous material handling. A UK-based subsidiary, Park Air Systems, provides VHF and UHF ground-to-air communications systems for the civil and defense markets. Northrop Grumman has also worked closely with Antenna Associates, Inc., a leading manufacturer of Identification friend or foe (IFF)/Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) antennas located in Massachusetts.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2007, Northrop Grumman acquired Scaled Composites in which it had previously owned a 40% stake.

In 2008, Northrop Grumman began working with DHS Systems LLC, manufacturer of the Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH) in New York, as part of the U.S. Army's Standard Integrated Command Post System program.^[27]

History

Originally formed in California in 1939 by Jack Northrop, the Northrop Corporation was reincorporated in Delaware in 1985.^[28]

1990s

In 1994, Northrop Aircraft merged with Grumman Aerospace, famous for building the Apollo Lunar Module to create Northrop Grumman (NG).^{[citation needed]} In 1996, the new company acquired Westinghouse Electronic Systems, a major manufacturer of radar systems,^{[citation needed]} and Xetron Corporation. In 1997, the defense computer contractor Logicon was added, which had acquired Geodynamics Corporation in March 1996 and Syscon Corporation in February 1995.^{[citation needed]}

The assembly line for Northrop P-61 Black Widows at the Northrop plant in Hawthorne, California in World War II. Center wings and fuselages take shape on the left, with more nearly finished complete ships on the right.^[29]

In 1998, a merger between Northrop Grumman and competitor Lockheed Martin was not approved by the U.S. government,^{[citation needed]} slowing the consolidation of the defense industry.^{[dubious – discuss]} The same year it acquired Inter-National Research Institute Inc. In 1999, the company acquired Teledyne Ryan, developer of surveillance systems and unmanned aircraft, California Microwave, Inc., and the Data Procurement Corporation. On March 19, 1999, Northrop Grumman announced to restate its fourth-quarter results downward to a net loss because of problems related to its dealings with start-up satellite launch company Kistler Aerospace Corp.^[30][vague] In 1999, Northrop Grumman and SAIC created AMSEC LLC as a joint venture, which grew "from $100 million in revenue in 2000 to approximately $500 million in fiscal year 2007."^[31]

2000s

In 2000, NG acquired Federal Data Corporation, Navia Aviation As, Comptek Research, Inc.,and Sterling Software, Inc.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, the company acquired Litton Industries, a shipbuilder and defense electronics systems provider for the U.S. Navy. During the acquisition process, a new Delaware holding company, NNG, Inc., was formed, which merged with Northrop Grumman through a one-for-one common shares exchange in April 2001. Both Northrop Grumman and Litton became subsidiaries of the new holding company. The original Northrop Grumman Corporation then changed its name to "Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation"; the holding company, NNG, Inc., changed its name to "Northrop Grumman Corporation". Later that year, Newport News Shipbuilding was added.

On November 1, 2001, Northrop Grumman restated its third-quarter profit after stopping work on two ships for American Classic Voyages, which filed for bankruptcy protection.^[32]

In 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired TRW Inc., which had acquired Braddock Dunn & McDonald (BDM) in 1997, and became the Space Technology sector based in Redondo Beach, CA, and the Mission Systems sector based in Reston, VA, with sole interest in their space systems and laser systems manufacturing. The Aeronautical division was sold to Goodrich, and the automotive divisions were spun off and retained the TRW name.

There have been 15 acquisitions from 1994-2003^[which?]period.^[33]

On January 1, 2006, Northrop Grumman opened its business sector called 'Technical Services'.^{[citation needed]} Northrop Grumman and Boeing collaborated on a design concept for NASA's upcoming Orion spacecraft (previously the Crew Exploration Vehicle), but the contract went to rival Lockheed Martin on August 31, 2006.^{[citation needed]}

On July 20, 2007, Northrop Grumman became the sole owner of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites.^[34]

In 2007, Northrop Grumman created 'National Workforce Centers' as an alternative to Offshoring.^[35] Locations are Auburn, Alabama; Corsicana, Texas; Fairmont, West Virginia; Helena, Montana; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and Lebanon, Virginia. The Rapid City, South Dakota location closed in January 2012.^[36]

In July 2008, three of four Northrop Grumman employees (Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell) were freed during Operation Jaque after five years of captivity following their aircraft crash in the Colombian jungle. The fourth employee Tom Janis had been killed by the FARC shortly after the crash in 2003.^[37]

Rendering of the $8.7B James Webb Space Telescope

In January 2008, Northrop Grumman combined its Newport News and Ship Systems sectors into a new business unit named Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.^[38] On March 31, 2011, this was spun off as Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (NYSE: HII).^[39]

2010 to present

In July 2013, Northrop Grumman won a training-simulation contract potentially worth $490 million to support the U.S. Air Force's next-generation aerial warfare virtual-training network.^[40]

As of 2014 Northrop Grumman is the primary contractor for the James Webb Space Telescope.^[41]

Corporate governance

From 1990-2003, before the merger with Grumman in 1994, Kent Kresa was the CEO of the company, who led the serial-acquisition strategy with a total of 15 additional acquisitions from 1994-2003, including Litton, Logicon, Westinghouse's defense electronics business, Ryan Aeronautical and Newport News Shipbuilding, and TRW. He retired in 2003 at age 65.

In 2003 Ronald Sugar, the former chief operating officer, took over as CEO.^[42] Sugar also served^[when?] as the company chairman of the board.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2010, Wes Bush succeeded as CEO and became company president.^[43]

Corporate headquarters

Since 2011, Northrop Grumman's headquarters are in West Falls Church, Virginia (previously Jefferson), unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia.^[44][45][46]

Until 2010 headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, California,^[47][48] it announced plans on January 4, 2010 to move to the Washington Metropolitan Area by 2011,^[49] to be closer to government customers.^[50] CEO Wesley Bush stated that the company needed to be located close to Capitol Hill lawmakers and officials from intelligence and military communities.^[51] Northrop Grumman considered sites in Washington, DC and in suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.^[50] The Los Angeles Business Journal wrote "In a way, the announcement was not a surprise" due to the trend of aerospace companies moving to the DC area, the fact that the new CEO is from West Virginia and that CEOs often move corporate headquarters to places that they want the headquarters located. A Los Angeles area economic development consultant described the move announcement as a "structural failure at all levels for Los Angeles County."^[51]

District of Columbia economic development officials were "pitching the city's urban hipness and proximity to Capitol Hill power brokers" to Northrop Grumman.Maryland promoted its highly educated workforce and its large number of federal facilities, while Virginia marketed itself as a state with relatively low taxes.^[52]

In July 2010, the company announced its purchase of an existing building in Fairfax County and its move in the summer of 2011. It planned to consolidate its Century City headquarters and its existing Arlington County, Virginia offices into the new headquarters. It employed about 40,000 in the Washington DC metropolitan area, including DC and surrounding Maryland and Virginia.^[44]

Accolades and criticism

Northrop Grumman was named Forbes's Company of the Year in 2002.^[42] Forbes's announcement credited the company with "master[ing] the art of innovation."^[53] Since then, it no longer appears on their list of America's 400 Best Big Companies.^[54]

Since 2005 Northrop Grumman credits itself with sponsoring educational programs^[55] and donating thousands of dollars to various charities.^[56][57]

Many members of the U.S. government have attended company events and spoken highly of the company and its contributions, for example John McCain.^[58] In December 2007, Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded the prestigious Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, the only Presidential award recognizing companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations.^[59]

Environmental record

In 2000, Northrop Grumman was designated a Primary Responsible Party under federal Superfund laws at 13 hazardous waste sites and under state Superfund laws at eight sites.^[30] The corporation has also been linked to 52 superfund toxic waste sites.^[60] Based on 2008 data, Northrop Grumman was the 62nd-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, per the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Northrop Grumman facilities released more than 23,798 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in that year.^[61]

In 2002, the Bethpage Community Park in Bethpage, New York, owned by the company until the 1960s, was closed due to soil contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).^[62] The company dumped cadmium, arsenic, chromium-tainted sludge, solvents, paints and PCBs at the site between 1949 to 1962.^[62] Additionally, two toxic chemical plumes centered under Bethpage Community Park and other surrounding land formerly owned by Grumman or Northrop Grumman have spread to under neighboring houses.^[62] In November 2013, the Bethpage Water District filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against Northrop Grumman in Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York for contaminating the groundwater in Bethpage.^[63]

In 2003, the company was among 84 parties with which the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the state of New York reached an estimated US$15 million settlement for the rehabilitation of the Mattiace Petrochemical Company Superfund site in Glen Cove, Long Island.^[64] In the same year, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $33,214 after EPA inspectors found hazardous waste violations at the Capistrano test site.^[65]

As a response to many of the previous claims, the company has stood up as an organization for social responsibility.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, Northrop Grumman launched its Environmental Sustainability program and an EHS Leadership Council, to advance its commitment to environmental performance both internally and externally . The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project was launched to accurately quantify company-wide greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the carbon footprint of Northrop Grumman operations, in anticipation of upcoming regulations.^[66]

In October 2010 the company was named one of Computerworld's Top 12 Green-IT Organizations for its large-scale data center migration effort.^[67]

Political contributions and governmental ties

From 1990-2002, Northrop Grumman contributed $8.5 million to federal campaigns.^[68] According to PAC summary data compiled by Source Watch, the company gave US$1,011,260 to federal candidates in 2005-2006 election cycle, compared to $10,612,837 given by all defense contractors in the same cycle.^[69] This donation amount was only behind that of General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin in the defense industry. The majority of the contributions, 63%, went to Republicans.^[70]
Former Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems chief James G. Roche served as Secretary of the Air Force for two years under George W. Bush. Roche would eventually be nominated to head the Army, but would be forced to withdraw his nomination among accusations of mismanaging a contract with Boeing and of failing to properly handle the Air Force sexual assault scandals of 2003.^[71] According to CorpWatch, "at least seven former officials, consultants, or shareholders of Northrop Grumman" have held posts "in the Bush administration...including Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby, Pentagon Comptroller Dov S. Zakheim, and Sean O’Keefe, director of NASA." Wolfowitz and Libby have both since left the government amid scandals.^[72]

Controversies

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Northrop was the target of several high-profile criminal and civil cases.^[73]

In 1995, Robert Ferro, an employee for TRW Inc., a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, discovered that satellite components manufactured for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) were faulty and likely to fail in operation. TRW suppressed Ferro's report of the problem and hid the information from the USAF, even after a satellite in space equipped with the faulty components experienced serious anomalies. Ferro later sued Northrop Grumman in federal court under the federal whistle-blower law.

In 1999 , the company was sued for knowingly giving the Navy defective aircraft. This suit sought $210 million in damages and was ongoing as of 2004.^[74] Ten years later, on April 2, 2009, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $325 million to settle the suit.^[75] Ferro was awarded $48.8 million of the settlement. Northrop Grumman stated about the settlement that, "it believed that TRW had 'acted properly under its contracts' and that the company had substantive defenses against the claims."^[76] In 2001, federal investigators probed NG for fraud of more than $100 million,systematic overcharging for radar jammers and other high-tech devices used in the B-1 bomber, the F-15 fighter and the B-2 Stealth bomber.^[77] In 2003, the company was sued for overcharging the U.S. government for space projects in the 1990s.^[78] Northrop Grumman paid $111.2 million to settle out of court.^[79]

From August 25 through September 2, 2010, Virginia's computer system operated by NG under a $2.4 billion contract went into a week-long computer outage resulting in as many as 45,000 citizens not being able to renew their drivers licenses prior to their expiration. Computer systems for 26 of the state's 89 agencies were affected and Governor Bob McDonnell announced that some data may be permanently lost.^[80][81] In 2010 Northrop Grumman apologized for the outage and said to fund an investigation.^[82] Northrop Grumman had contributed approximately $75,000 to Bob McDonnell's election campaign.^[83]

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) Violations

U.S. State Department investigators found that Litton Industries, a subsidiary acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2000, had provided portions of source code used by guidance and navigation system interfaces aboard Air Force One to a company in Russia in 1998. Northrop Grumman agreed to pay a $15 million fine for 110 violations, occurring between September 1998 and November 1998, of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).^[84]

Additionally, documents filed by the State Department state that between 1994 and 2003, Northrop Grumman failed to notify the U.S. State Department about the computer guidance systems also being transferred to Angola, Indonesia, Israel, China, Ukraine and Yemen.^[85]