NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP DE

The following discussion should be read along with the financial statements included in this Form 10-K, as well as Part II, “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (“2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K”).

Global Security Environment

The U.S. and its allies continue to face a global security environment of heightened tensions and instability, threats from state and non-state actors, including in particular major global powers, as well as terrorist organizations, increasing nuclear tensions, diverse regional security concerns and political instability. The market for defense products, services and solutions globally is driven by these complex and evolving security challenges, considered in the broader context of political and socioeconomic circumstances and priorities. Our operations and financial performance, as well as demand for our products and services, are impacted by global events, including violence and unrest. The same is true for our suppliers and other business partners.

The conflict in Ukraine has increased global tensions and instability, highlighted threats and increased global demand, as well as further disrupted global supply chains. We continue to not anticipate significant adverse financial impacts directly from the ongoing conflict. We have experienced, and, while difficult to predict, may continue to experience a modest increase in demand for certain of our goods and services directly and indirectly related to the conflict in Ukraine, either through direct sales or if the U.S. provides increased military assistance and support to Ukraine.

More recently, the hostilities in Israel and the Gaza Strip have further heightened global tensions and instability. At this time, it is unknown whether hostilities in this region will escalate into an even larger conflict. The demand for our goods and services may increase, especially if the U.S. provides increased military assistance and support to Israel. We do not have a significant business presence in the region, and therefore do not anticipate significant adverse financial impacts directly from the current conflict.

More broadly, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel and threats elsewhere, particularly in the Pacific region, have heightened tensions and highlighted security requirements globally, including Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific region, as well as the U.S. These conflicts may result in increased demand for defense products and services from allies and partner nations, particularly in those areas. We are actively exploring both opportunities and risks associated with the broader global security environment.

We believe the current global security environment highlights the significant national security threats to the U.S. and its allies, and the need for strong deterrence and a robust defense capability. We believe our capabilities, particularly in space, C4ISR, missile defense, battle management, advanced weapons, and survivable aircraft and mission systems should help our customers in the U.S. and globally defend against current and future threats and, as a result, continue to allow for long-term profitable business growth.

Global Economic Enviro nment

The global economic environment has experienced extraordinary challenges, including high rates of inflation and inflationary pressures; widespread delays and disruptions in supply chains; business slowdowns or shutdowns; workforce challenges and labor shortfalls; and market volatility. Some of these challenges were due, in part, to the global health emergency caused by COVID-19, which the World Health organization declared ended in May 2023. Direct impacts of COVID-19 on our business during 2023 were limited, and we are not currently expecting significant direct impacts on our business going forward.

The macroeconomic factors have contributed, and we expect will continue to contribute, to increased costs, delays, disruptions and other performance challenges, as well as increased competing demands for limited resources to address such increased costs and other challenges, for our company, our suppliers and partners, and our customers.

We continue to work hard to mitigate challenges caused by the current macroeconomic environment on our business, including by taking steps to support our suppliers and small businesses and enhancing our workforce through extensive hiring, development and retention efforts. However, the broader macroeconomic environment, including inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges, continued adversely to affect the company’s results for the year ended December 31, 2023. We cannot clearly predict how long these macroeconomic challenges will continue, how they will change over time, or what additional resources will be available, but we expect to see this challenging macroeconomic environment continue adversely to impact the global economy, our customers and suppliers, our industry and our company in 2024.

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In addition, increased interest rates, raising the cost of borrowing for governments, could further impact government spending priorities (in the U.S. and allied countries, in particular), including their demand for defense products. Economic tensions and changes in international trade policies, including higher tariffs on imported goods and materials and renegotiation of free trade agreements, could also further impact the global market for defense products, services and solutions.

U.S. Political, Budget and Regulatory Environment

The U.S. continues to face an uncertain and evolving political, budget and regulatory environment. In particular, it is difficult to predict the specific course of future defense budgets. Current and future requirements related to the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, threats in the Pacific regions and other security priorities, as well as global inflation, the national debt, and other domestic priorities, among other things, in the U.S. and globally, will continue to impact our customers’ budgets, spending and priorities, and our industry. The U.S. political environment, including the U.S. election cycle, may also impact defense budgets and priorities, issues related to the national debt, and government spending more broadly. We anticipate that issues related to budgetary priorities and defense spending levels, the debt ceiling, and the spending caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), particularly with respect to discretionary spending, will continue to be a subject of considerable debate, with a potentially significant impact on our programs and the company.

Annual appropriations to fund the federal government for FY 2024 have not been enacted. Congress continues to pass short-term continuing resolutions (CR) to fund the federal government. The most recent “laddered” CR passed in January 2024 funds the government through March 2024, depending on the appropriation bill. If Congress does not pass full year appropriations or an additional CR before current funding expires, the federal government (or select departments) could face a shutdown and cease what are characterized as certain non-essential operations. Depending on the nature and duration of a potential shutdown, businesses that rely on government funding, including defense contractors, could be significantly impacted. If the federal government remains under a CR at the end of April 2024, the one percent discretionary spending cuts under the FRA could be triggered, potentially resulting in lower funding on the programs in which we participate.

In December 2023, the president signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2024 which supports approximately $886 billion in FY 2024 funding for national defense, $842 billion of which is for the DoD.

The political environment, federal budget, debt ceiling and regulatory environment are expected to continue to be the subject of considerable debate, especially in light of the ongoing conflicts and heightened global tensions, the inflationary environment and political tensions. The results of those debates could have material impacts on defense spending broadly and the company’s programs in particular. We anticipate that the broader macroeconomic environment, with ongoing inflationary pressures, pockets of labor challenges, and supply chain disruption, among other considerations, will continue to play a significant role in the outcome of these debates and, in turn, on our industry and company.

For further information on the global security and economic environment and U.S. political, budget and regulatory environment, including the risks related thereto, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources,” “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risks” and “Risks Factors” included in this Form 10-K.

Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (“GBSD” or “Sentinel”) Program Nunn-McCurdy Breach Review

Due in part to the impact of macroeconomic factors, in January 2024 the customer provided congressional notification that the Sentinel program is currently under a Nunn-McCurdy breach review, which is required when total program cost estimates exceed certain defined thresholds. This notification, which has been driven primarily by increases in construction and procurement cost projections for the Production and Deployment phases, commences the process to achieve recertification for continuance of the program and update its baseline cost estimates. We are currently executing under a cost-type contract for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase, and the Production and Deployment phases are yet to be priced and negotiated. We are continuing to partner with our customer to address this critical mission. For more information, see “Risk Factors”.

Disposition of IT and Mission Support Services Business

Effective January 30, 2021 (the “Divestiture date”), we completed the sale of our IT and mission support services business (the “IT services divestiture”) for $3.4 billion in cash and recorded a pre-tax gain of $2.0 billion. The IT and mission support services business was comprised of the majority of the former Information Solutions and Services (IS&S) division of Defense Systems (excluding the Vinnell Arabia business); select cyber, intelligence and missions support programs, which were part of the former Cyber and Intelligence Mission Solutions (CIMS) division of Mission Systems; and the former Space Technical Services business unit of Space Systems. Operating results include sales and operating income for the IT and mission support services business prior to the Divestiture

-30- date; therefore, no sales and operating income were recognized for this business during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. The company recorded sales of $162 million and pre-tax profit of $20 million for the IT and mission support services business during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Operating Performance Assessment and Reporting

We manage and assess our business based on our performance on contracts and programs (typically larger contracts or two or more closely-related contracts). We recognize sales from our portfolio of long-term contracts as control is transferred to the customer, primarily over time on a cost-to-cost basis (cost incurred relative to costs estimated at completion). As a result, sales tend to fluctuate in concert with costs incurred across our large portfolio of contracts. Due to the applicable FAR and CAS requirements that govern our U.S. government business, most types of costs are allocable to U.S. government contracts. As such, we do not focus on individual cost groupings (such as manufacturing, engineering and design labor, subcontractor, material, overhead and general and administrative (G&A) costs), as much as we do on total contract cost, which is the key driver of our sales and operating income.

In evaluating our operating performance, we primarily focus on changes in sales and operating margin rates. Where applicable, significant fluctuations in operating performance attributable to individual contracts or programs, or changes in a specific cost element across multiple contracts, are described in our analysis. Based on this approach and the nature of our operations, the discussion of results of operations below first focuses on our four segments before distinguishing between products and services. Changes in sales are generally described in terms of volume, while changes in operating margin rates are generally described in terms of performance and/or contract mix. For purposes of this discussion, volume generally refers to increases or decreases in sales or cost from production/service activity levels and performance generally refers to non-volume-related changes in profitability, which are typically described in terms of changes in net EAC adjustments. Contract mix generally refers to changes in the ratio of contract type and/or life cycle (e.g., cost-type, fixed-price, development, production, and/or sustainment).