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Northrop (NOC) Wins Contract to Aid France's E-2D Hawkeye Jets

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Northrop Grumman Corp.’s (NOC - Free Report) business segment, Aeronautics, clinched a contract involving the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The award has been offered by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

Details of the Deal

Valued at $76 million, the contract is projected to be completed by August 2027. Per the terms of the deal, Northrop will supply spare parts for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to support flight test and an initial two-year sustainment, following the delivery for three unique configurations of these jets.  

The contract will serve the government of France. A major portion of the work related to this deal will be executed in Liverpool, NY; Melbourne, FL; and Indianapolis, IN.

Importance of E-2D Hawkeye Jet

Northrop’s E-2D Hawkeye aircraft boasts battle management, theater air, missile defense and multiple sensor fusion capabilities in an airborne system. These provide the warfighter with expanded battlespace awareness, especially in the area of information operations.

Through its effective radar sensor and robust network-enabled capability, the Advanced Hawkeye aircraft provides critical, actionable data to joint forces and first responders.

Such features of the aircraft make it attractive for the military, resulting in NOC winning multiple orders for the same, like the latest one. The new orders are likely to boost Northrop’s revenue generation prospects in the military aircraft business arena.

Growth Prospects

Countries globally have been reinforcing their military resources due to intense geopolitical tensions and amplified terrorist threats. To this end, a military aircraft that forms an integral part of any air defense system is likely to witness pent-up demand.

Per a report from the Mordor Intelligence firm, the military aircraft market is projected to witness a CAGR of 4% over the 2022-2031 period. Such growth prospects may benefit Northrop as its military aviation system offers a wide range of manned and unmanned aircraft that already enjoys an established position in the military aircraft market.

The abounding growth prospects of the aforementioned market should also benefit other defense majors that manufacture combat jets, such as Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) , Boeing (BA - Free Report) and Textron (TXT - Free Report) .

Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics segment is engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, sustainment, support and upgrade of advanced military aircraft, including combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles and related technologies. Its major programs include the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter jet, the C-130 Hercules airlifter, the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet and the F-22 Raptor jet.

LMT’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.2%. Shares of LMT have returned 13.3% value to its investors in the past year.

Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security segment’s primary products include fixed-wing military aircraft, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-15 programs, P-8 programs, KC-46A Tanker and T-7A Red Hawk. The segment also manufactures rotorcraft and rotary-wing programs, such as CH-47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache and V-22 Osprey.

Boeing’s long-term earnings growth rate is 4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2023 sales indicates growth of 17.9% from the 2022 reported figure.

Textron’s business unit, Textron Aviation Defense, designs, builds and supports versatile and globally known military aircraft preferred for training and attack missions. Some of Textron’s renowned products include the Beechcraft T-6C trainer and the AT-6 Wolverine.

The company boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 11.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2023 sales indicates growth of 7.2% from the previous year’s reported number.

Price Movement

In the past six months, shares of Northrop have lost 1.7% compared with the industry’s decline of 4%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank

Northrop currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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