NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP DE

Northrop Grumman Corporation (herein referred to as “Northrop Grumman,” the “company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. We deliver a broad range of products, services and solutions to U.S. and international customers, and principally to the U.S Department of Defense (“DoD”) and intelligence community. Our broad portfolio is aligned to support national security priorities and our solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, protect and advance humanity.

The company is a leading provider of space systems, military aircraft, missile defense, advanced weapons and long-range fires capabilities, mission systems, networking and communications, strategic deterrence systems, and breakthrough technologies, such as advanced computing, microelectronics and cyber. We are focused on competing and winning programs that enable continued growth, performing on our commitments and affordably delivering capability our customers need. With the investments we've made in advanced technologies, combined with our talented workforce and digital transformation capabilities, Northrop Grumman is well positioned to meet our customers' needs today and in the future.

The following discussion should be read along with the financial statements included in this Form 10-Q, as well as “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Liquidity and Capital Resources,” “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risks” and “Risk Factors” in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which provides additional information on our business, the environment in which we operate and our operating results.

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 these events, including global unrest. The same is true for our suppliers and other business partners.

The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and threats elsewhere, particularly in the Pacific region, have increased global tensions and instability and highlighted security requirements globally, including in Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific region, as well as the U.S. These conflicts have resulted in and may continue to result in increased demand for defense products and services from allies and partner nations, particularly in those areas. For example, we have experienced an increase in demand for certain of our products and services directly and indirectly related to the conflict in Ukraine. We continue to monitor developments in these regions, but have not experienced, and do not anticipate experiencing, significant adverse financial impacts directly from the conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East.

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 robust defense capabilities, and are actively evaluating both opportunities and risks associated with this environment. We believe our capabilities, particularly in space, C4ISR, missile defense, battle management, advanced weapons, strategic deterrence, 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 Environment

Over the past several years, the global economic environment has experienced extraordinary challenges, including inflationary pressures; widespread delays and disruptions in supply chains; business slowdowns or shutdowns; workforce challenges and labor shortfalls; and market volatility. These macroeconomic factors can and have contributed, and could 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 to address challenges caused by the macroeconomic environment on our business. We have seen positive progress in the supply chain as on-time deliveries and quality have improved. In remaining areas of pressure, we are proactively working with our suppliers to help meet our contract commitments.

In addition, an overall increase in interest rates in recent years has raised the cost of borrowing for governments, and if rates further increase, it could impact government spending priorities (in the U.S. and allied countries, in

-21- particular), including their demand for defense products. Economic tensions and changes in international trade policies, including, for example, the recent widespread tariffs announced by the U.S. on its major trading partners, higher tariffs on imported goods and materials, actions taken in response (such as retaliatory tariffs or other trade protectionist measures or the renegotiation of free trade agreements), could also further impact the global market for defense products, services and solutions. The full impact of these governmental actions on macroeconomic conditions and on our business is uncertain, difficult to predict and depends on a number of factors, including the extent and duration of tariffs, any reversal or temporary suspension of announced tariffs, the availability of exemptions, changes in the amount and scope of tariffs, the imposition of new tariffs and other measures that target countries may take in response to U.S. trade policies, and possible resulting general inflationary pressures in the global economy. We are currently evaluating the potential impact on our business, suppliers and customers, but do not believe that the tariffs in effect at this time will have a material adverse effect on our business.

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 the Middle East, threats in the Pacific region and other security priorities, as well as the macroeconomic environment, 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 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.

On March 15, 2025, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 was enacted to continue funding the government through the remainder of FY 2025. The full-year continuing resolution generally maintains FY 2024 funding levels, but includes an increase of $6 billion in defense spending and a decrease of $13 billion in non-defense spending compared to FY 2024 funding levels. Government operations under the full-year continuing resolution could have potential impacts on our programs and new starts, in particular. However, the full-year continuing resolution also provides the DoD with significant flexibility to allocate and spend funds, including authority to initiate new programs if certain requirements are met.

The current Presidential Administration (the Administration) has issued numerous executive orders, including orders that direct executive departments and agencies to put in place a regulatory freeze on pending rules, to effectuate the repeal of any regulation that an agency determines is unlawful and to reform the DoD defense acquisition process. Some of the Administration’s executive orders are subject to ongoing court challenges. Implementation of executive orders could adversely affect our business or create a more challenging or costly regulatory, operating and economic environment. For example, on April 9, 2025, the President signed an executive order entitled Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base. The executive order directs the Secretary of Defense to submit, within 60 days of the issuance of the executive order, a plan for expediting DoD acquisitions that relies on existing authorities. The plan, among other things, should include a first preference for commercial solutions and a general preference for Other Transaction Authority procurements. In addition, the executive order directs the DoD to review all major defense acquisition programs (MDAP). Any program that is more than 15% behind schedule or over cost based on the current Acquisition Program Baseline, unable to meet key performance parameters, or unaligned with the Secretary of Defense’s mission priorities will be considered for potential cancellation. Implementation of this executive order, including changes in DoD priorities or regulations and results of the MDAP review, could lead to contract cancellations, disruptions and/or stop work orders, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and/or cash flows.

In light of the ongoing conflicts and heightened global instability as well as political tensions and related legal challenges, we expect continued uncertainty in the U.S. political, budget and regulatory environment. Initiatives to reduce governmental spending, federal budget and debt ceiling action, and U.S. government policy positions, including trade policy, potential tax reform and DoD policies or priorities, could materially impact defense spending broadly and the company’s programs in particular.

B-21 Program

In 2015, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman the B-21 contract, which includes a base contract for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and five low-rate initial production (LRIP) options for a baseline total of 21 aircraft. The EMD phase of the program is largely cost type and began at contract award. The LRIP options are largely fixed price and are expected to continue to be awarded and executed through

-22- approximately the end of the decade. In addition to the five LRIP options, Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have established not to exceed (NTE) pricing for additional aircraft up to unit 40. The average NTE value for these subsequent lots is above the average unit price of the five LRIP lots, and the NTE lots include an economic price adjustment clause to help protect against certain inflationary pressures. Final terms, quantity, and pricing for these subsequent lots are not fully negotiated.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, we recognized a projected loss of $1.56 billion across the five LRIP options. During the first quarter of 2025, we reviewed our estimated profitability on the program and recognized an additional $477 million loss across the five LRIP options. This additional loss largely relates to higher manufacturing costs primarily resulting from a process change made by the company to enable an accelerated production ramp, as well as increases in the projected cost and quantity of general procurement materials.

The company’s first quarter 2025 results reflect our current best estimate of cost to complete the LRIP and NTE aircraft, as well as the outcome of ongoing discussions with our suppliers and our customer. If our estimated cost to complete the aircraft changes or our assumptions regarding contract performance, quantities, supplier negotiations, or funding to mitigate the impact of macroeconomic disruptions are resolved more or less favorably than what we have estimated, our financial position, results of operations and/or cash flows could be materially affected.

Sentinel Program

In 2020, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract for the EMD phase of the Sentinel program. In January 2024, the U.S. Air Force provided congressional notification that the Sentinel program was under a Nunn-McCurdy breach review, which is required when total program cost estimates exceed certain defined thresholds. This notification, which had been driven primarily by increases in cost estimates for the Production and Deployment phases, commenced the process to achieve certification for continuance of the program and update its baseline cost estimates. We are currently executing under a cost-type contract for the EMD phase, and the Production and Deployment phases are yet to be priced and negotiated.

In July 2024, the Sentinel program was certified for continuation by the DoD upon completion of the Nunn-McCurdy breach review. In connection with the certification, the DoD directed that the program be restructured, including plans for infrastructure related to the command and launch segment, which was the main driver of the increased cost estimates for the Production and Deployment phases. We are partnering with our customer to establish a new program baseline as part of the restructuring activities.

During the first quarter of 2025, we reviewed our estimated profitability on the Sentinel program and made no significant changes. The Sentinel EAC incorporates our best estimate of costs to complete the restructured EMD effort; however, if the outcome is more or less favorable than what we have estimated, our financial position, results of operations and/or cash flows could be materially affected.