Northrop Grumman Wins $46.1 Million Navy Deal for Bomb-Jamming Gear

The Pentagon awarded Northrop Grumman a $46.1 million contract modification for counter-IED electronic warfare systems, with Australia funding nearly a third through Foreign Military Sales.

First Published: August 7, 2026, 1:32 PM ET

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., the fifth-largest U.S. federal contractor, won a $46.1 million Navy modification to build electronic warfare systems that jam radio-triggered roadside bombs, with Australia paying part of the tab, as announced on war.gov.

The firm-fixed-price award expands a previously signed contract to procure Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare Increment One Block One systems, retrofit kits and spares. The deal carries $4.2 million in incremental funding for engineering support and other direct costs. Australian customer funds cover $15,939,572, or 32%, through the Foreign Military Sales program.

Northrop Grumman, headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia, reported $41.9 billion in 2025 revenue and employs about 95,000 people, according to Google. The company receives more than 2% of all U.S. federal spending directed to contractors, according to Google.

The modification benefits ground forces most directly, since counter-IED jammers protect troops and vehicles from remotely detonated explosives. Australia gains a shared platform through the co-funded purchase, while U.S. taxpayers carry the balance across Navy and Air Force procurement, operations and research accounts. Northrop Grumman books the revenue and sustains work at two sites.

Work will be performed in Beaverton, Oregon, which handles 66% of the effort, and San Diego, California, which covers 34%. The company expects completion by December 2028. Funds totaling $6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, and the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Maritime in Washington serves as the contracting activity.

The award marks the 33rd contract to Northrop Grumman in 2026, lifting the company’s total contract value for the year to about $7.35 billion, according to firestore contract records. It ranks as the 96th Department of Defense contract awarded in California during 2026. The sum trails the company’s record award of $7 billion and sits within the 2026 Navy portfolio range, which runs from a low near $9 million to a high near $8 billion.

Compared with recent Northrop Grumman business, the deal is modest. The company secured two multi-year missile-defense framework agreements worth more than $3 billion in early August 2026 for Patriot and THAAD components, according to simplywall.st. The U.S. Air Force separately awarded Northrop Grumman a potential $1.84 billion contract for LITENING targeting pods, according to militaryaerospace.com.

For the average U.S. reader, the award reflects how federal defense dollars flow to specialized manufacturers and how allied nations share costs on shared equipment. The funding spans multiple budget years and service branches, a routine feature of Pentagon procurement.

Counter-IED jamming purchases have happened before. The Pentagon has fielded electronic warfare systems for more than two decades to defeat remotely triggered explosives, and Northrop Grumman remains a core supplier to U.S. and allied programs, according to simplywall.st. This modification continues that established line of work rather than opening a new one.

The contracting activity in Washington will oversee delivery and any further modifications, with the effort due for completion by December 2028. A date for additional awards on this program has not been announced.

Australia’s partnership with U.S. defense firms is not the first time the two allies have pooled resources on weapons systems. The countries signed the ANZUS treaty in 1951, binding their defense cooperation across the Pacific. Decades of joint procurement followed, from surveillance aircraft to naval systems, according to defence-industry.eu. Those arrangements gave Australian forces access to advanced U.S. technology while U.S. contractors gained scale, a pattern that endures in the counter-IED buy announced this week.

This contract represents the 33rd contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $7,352,018,349. It is also the 96th Department of Defense contract awarded in California during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., whose record stands at $7,000,000,000, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 8 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 7, 2026.