REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Dec. 21, 2010 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) today announced that its Aerospace Systems sector has achieved sectorwide AS9100 and ISO 9001 certification across 13 of its operating sites, signifying that its sectorwide quality management system meets stringent international standards.

The sector received certification covering its Redondo Beach headquarters as well as locations in El Segundo, Rancho Bernardo, San Bernardino, Edwards Air Force Base and Palmdale, Calif.; Melbourne and St. Augustine, Fla.; Bethpage, N.Y.; New Town, N.D.; Moss Point, Miss.; Warner Robins, Ga.; and Clearfield, Utah. The sites had been previously recognized under three separate quality certifications.

"Attaining this certification demonstrates our continued commitment to sustaining an agile, process-based and quality-focused organization," said Christopher Cool, vice president of quality safety and mission assurance for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "This is an endorsement of the pledge we make to our customers to continually improve and persevere in our quest to make quality a sustainable competitive discriminator."

The AS and ISO standards define internationally recognized quality management systems. Northrop Grumman received the certification, scoring 90 percent, after a third-party audit by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), a quality management systems registrar. The audit was conducted at 10 Aerospace Systems sites in September and October 2010 to gather representative data.

For certification, a company element must implement a quality management system encompassing the enterprise's activities, including management responsibility; resource management; product realization and measurement; and analysis and improvement.

In LRQA's final report, lead auditor Michael Harder stated, "Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems' quality management procedure is well established and documented, with appropriate provisions for satisfying customer requirements. The system actively pursues continual improvement of products and enterprise processes, and is supported by an effective and very comprehensive internal audit program covering all sites and scope of activities."

LRQA will continue to perform semi-annual assessments of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems to verify sustained compliance.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.  Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information. 

  CONTACT:  Amy Akmal
          Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
          (424) 254-6945
          amy.akmal@ngc.com