February 18, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Northrop not seeking direct DoD investment for solid rocket motors, but suppliers might: CEO
“There’s just a lot of strategic synergy in those parts of our portfolio that we want to maintain ownership structure of,” said Northrop CEO Kathy Warden.
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman’s chief executive said today that the company has no plans to follow L3Harris’ lead to allow the Pentagon to take a financial stake in its solid rocket motors business, but hinted that some of its key suppliers may enter into similar investment agreements with the department. “We certainly work in the supply chain to ensure that our suppliers also have the resources they need. And in some of those cases, there may be an interest for those companies to take investment directly from the government,” Northrop CEO Kathy Warden told investors during Citi’s Global Industrial Tech & Mobility Conference.
“We’re facilitating those conversations with the [Pentagon’s] Office of Strategic Capital.” In January, the Defense Department announced it would invest $1 billion into L3Harris’ missile solutions business, which the company would spin off as a separate publicly-held company. The deal enables the department to take an ownership stake in the new company, although it will not be on the board of directors or involved with managing the business. For Northrop’s own solid rocket motor business, however, Warden stated that the company remains the “best party” to continue making the investments needed to scale up motor production, with no such spin off necessary.