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 War (“DoW”) 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 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which provides additional information on our business, the environment in which we operate and our operating results.

Divestiture of Training Services Business

On May 24, 2025 (the “Divestiture date”), the company completed its previously announced sale of substantially all of the Immersive Mission Solutions (IMS) operating unit of Defense Systems (the “training services” business or “divestiture”) for $333 million in cash and recorded a pre-tax gain on sale of $231 million. IMS is a provider of mission training and satellite ground network communications software for U.S. government customers. 2025 operating results include sales and operating income for the training services business prior to the Divestiture date.

Global Security Environment

The U.S. and its allies continue to face a dynamic 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, political instability and uncertainty concerning global strategic alliances. The market for defense products, services and solutions globally is driven by these complex and rapidly 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 ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran and threats elsewhere, particularly in the Middle East and the Western Pacific region, have increased global tensions and instability and highlighted security requirements globally. 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 regions. We continue to monitor developments in these regions, but have not experienced, and do not anticipate experiencing, significant adverse financial impacts directly from these conflicts.

We believe the current global security environment, characterized by significant national security threats to the U.S. and its allies, continues to highlight the need for strong deterrence and robust defense capabilities. We are actively evaluating both opportunities and risks associated with this environment and are moving with speed and at scale to deliver innovative solutions to our customers. We believe our capabilities, particularly in space, C4ISR, air and missile defense, battle management, solid rocket motors, advanced weapons, strategic deterrence, survivable aircraft, autonomous aircraft systems 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 position us for long-term profitable business growth.

Global Economic Environment

Over the past several years, the global economic environment has experienced challenges, including inflationary pressures; widespread delays and disruptions in supply chains; constraints on the availability of critical materials, including rare earth minerals and metals; business slowdowns or shutdowns; workforce challenges and labor shortfalls; and market volatility. These macroeconomic factors have contributed, and could continue to contribute, to increased costs, delays, disruptions and other performance challenges, as well as increased competing demands for

-22- limited resources to address such increased costs and other challenges, for our company, suppliers and partners, and customers.

In addition, if interest rates increase or otherwise fluctuate, it could impact government spending priorities (in the U.S. and allied countries, in particular), including the demand for defense products. Economic tensions and changes in international trade policies, including, for example, widespread tariffs announced since last year by the U.S. on its major trading partners, higher tariffs on imported goods and materials and 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. In addition, following the first quarter 2026 U.S. Supreme Court decision that invalidated tariffs imposed pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), the U.S. announced tariffs under different statutory authorities, including a 10% global tariff. 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, the availability of exemptions, changes in the amount and scope of tariffs, any reversal or temporary suspension of announced tariffs, the availability of refunds for tariffs paid under IEEPA, 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 continuing to monitor the impact on our business, suppliers and customers, but do not believe that the tariffs, including the IEEPA tariffs, have had or 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 Iran and threats in the Middle East, the Western Pacific and Latin America 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, defense spending levels and the debt ceiling will continue to be subjects of considerable debate, with a potentially significant impact on our programs and the company.

On July 4, 2025, the FY 2025 reconciliation bill titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) was enacted. The OBBBA allocated approximately $150 billion in mandatory defense funding, including funding for air and missile defense, munitions, strategic deterrence, shipbuilding and supply chains and other military capabilities. The appropriated funds will remain available to be obligated until September 30, 2029 and expended through FY 2034. Funding from the OBBBA has allowed for increased investments by the DoW in defense modernization projects, homeland missile defense capabilities, and increased production capacity across a number of key programs. See Note 4 to the financial statements for additional information on key income tax provisions of the OBBBA.

On February 3, 2026, annual appropriations to fund a vast majority of the federal government for FY 2026, including approximately $859 billion for defense, were enacted. Appropriations to partially fund the Department of Homeland Security were enacted on April 30, 2026, with the remaining appropriations enacted on June 10, 2026. On April 3, 2026, the Trump Administration (the “Administration”) released its FY 2027 budget request. The request includes $1.45 trillion for defense, with $1.1 trillion in the base budget (discretionary funding) and $350 billion in reconciliation (mandatory) funding. The total defense budget request reflects an increase of 44% ($441 billion) above the FY 2026 enacted levels (including $153 billion in FY 2026 reconciliation funding). Congress is evaluating the Administration’s budget request as it drafts authorization and appropriations legislation for FY 2027. Additionally, the Administration recently transmitted an $88 billion supplemental funding request for FY 2026, of which $67 billion is intended to address the operational costs associated with the Iran conflict and other defense priorities. There is uncertainty as to when Congress will act on the reconciliation funding and supplemental request.

The Administration has issued numerous executive orders, including orders to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, to reform the DoW defense acquisition process and, more recently, to promote the use of fixed price contracts where appropriate and to address underperformance and insufficient prioritization of government contracts, insufficient investment in production and production speed and incentive compensation metrics applicable to defense contractors. See “Risk factors” for further discussion regarding risks associated with executive orders and regulatory changes. Some of the Administration’s executive orders are subject to ongoing court challenges. Implementation of certain of these executive orders could adversely affect our business or create a more challenging or costly regulatory, operating and economic environment.

-23-

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 global security, U.S. political, budget and regulatory environment. Initiatives to reduce governmental spending, federal budget and debt ceiling action, and further changes in U.S. government policy positions, including trade and foreign policy, tax policy and DoW 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 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 approximately the end of the decade. We have previously recognized and disclosed cumulative losses of approximately $2.0 billion on the LRIP phase of the program. Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have also established not to exceed (NTE) pricing for two additional lots. Final terms, quantity, and pricing for the NTE lots are not fully negotiated; however, the average value for these NTE 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.

During the first quarter of 2026, we reached an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to expand production capacity for the B-21 program and increase the aircraft production rate. We continue to expect to invest approximately $2.5 billion over a multi-year period to expand production capacity; in return, we have the opportunity to earn improved returns on the LRIP and NTE phases of the program.

During the second quarter of 2026, we again reviewed our estimated profitability on the LRIP phase of the program and made no significant changes to the previously recognized loss. As we finalized certain details associated with the first quarter 2026 agreement with the U.S. Air Force described above, certain costs shifted between LRIP lots resulting in favorable EAC adjustments on the first four LRIP lots and an increase in the loss contingency accrual on the remainder of the program. The company’s second quarter 2026 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. If our estimated cost to complete the aircraft changes, or if our assumptions regarding contract performance, quantities, or supplier negotiations 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 DoW upon completion of the Nunn-McCurdy breach review. In connection with the certification, the DoW 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.

During the second quarter of 2025, we partnered with the U.S. Air Force in defining the preliminary execution framework necessary for successful restructure of the program. The program restructure will include a revision to the acquisition strategy, joint establishment of a new program baseline, and other critical preparation activities necessary to re-accomplish Milestone B approval.

During the second quarter of 2026, we continued to make progress on joint activities with the U.S. Air Force. These efforts, which included requirements and design maturation, risk reduction activities, and evaluation of options to accelerate fielding of initial capability, have resulted in further definition and authorization of elements of the program execution plan, resulting in a $7.6 billion increase in program backlog. We also reviewed our estimated profitability on the program and recognized a favorable earnings adjustment related to our recent achievement of certain contract incentives. If our estimated cost to complete the restructured EMD effort or our achievement of future contract incentives is more or less favorable than what we have estimated, our financial position, results of operations and/or cash flows could be materially affected.

-24-

Operating Performance Assessment and Reporting

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). Contract mix can also refer to differences in the profitability of the programs that drive changes in sales (e.g., sales growth or decreases on programs with accretive or dilutive margin rates).