Global Power Made in America: Northrop Grumman Makes it in Maryland

Stretching from the Eastern Shore and the iconic Chesapeake Bay to the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains, Maryland rightfully garners the title of America in Miniature. Maryland is also home to several key sites that support national security, including Naval Air Station Patuxent River and Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Northrop Grumman’s Maryland campuses are nestled among these hubs, comprised of more than 30 sites and totaling more than six million square feet of manufacturing space – equivalent to 130 baseball fields, like the uniquely retro Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

From some of the world’s smallest semiconductors to impressive unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), to critical national security spacecraft, here’s how Maryland plays a role in the company’s ability to deliver when it matters most:

• A Lasting Economic Output. According to a recent study, Northrop Grumman employs more than 14,000 people in Maryland, and the company’s activities support up to 30,000 additional jobs and generate more than $7 billion in economic output. In addition, the company and statewide employees contributed more than $1.1 million in charitable funding supporting Maryland communities, including areas like STEM education, workforce development and basic needs like food and housing.
• Faster Than Sound: Producing Hypersonic Solutions. The company’s Hypersonics Capability Center (HCC) in Elkton is the first facility in the United States designed to produce advanced solutions that power hypersonic missiles beyond speeds of Mach 5. The HCC uses techniques like digital engineering and process consolidation to support cost reduction while ramping at speed and scale. Designed for the future of propulsion, the HCC provides the necessary infrastructure and capacity to produce hypersonic, air-breathing capabilities cost effectively, supporting growing demand.
• Continuous Expansion for Continuous Production. Northrop Grumman continues to innovate with building its Propulsion Innovation Center – a 57,000-square-foot facility in Elkton that’s part of a broader $100 million investment onsite to increase the company’s capacity for hypersonic air-breathing and solid rocket motor propulsion. The Propulsion Innovation Center is part of a broader investment totaling over $1 billion that the company has made to increase solid rocket motor and missile component production over the last seven years.
• Advancing Propulsion Capabilities: Fielding Capabilities Faster. Northrop Grumman builds and tests several propulsion solutions in Elkton, such as the 21-inch second-stage solid rocket motor and its Mk 72 prototype, both for the U.S. Navy. The 21-inch solid rocket motor, which can power multiple missile systems for the Navy, was designed and tested in less than a year. Northrop Grumman’s Mk 72 solution proved alignment on digital twin and performance modeling against real, measured outcomes, and it established multiple sources for critical components to strengthen the supply chain. These two critical systems demonstrate the company can deliver new solutions with the speed the warfighter needs.
• Microchips for All Missions. Microelectronics, or semiconductors, are the unseen technology that power American defense and national security systems. Northrop Grumman’s Microelectronics Center is at the forefront of this innovation, actively manufacturing essential chips across its three government-accredited facilities, including the Advanced Technology Lab (ATL) situated near the heart of Baltimore. This facility is renowned for delivering high-performance semiconductor solutions and managing the entire manufacturing process — from design and packaging to production — entirely within the United States. Spanning over 111,000 square feet of advanced clean room space, ATL produces a diverse range of chips that support crucial defense and commercial missions throughout their lifecycle, often by decades, which strengthens national security and technological superiority beyond what many commercial providers can offer. This is bolstered by proactive efforts to forge strong partnerships with external aerospace and defense contractors, as well as commercial companies, by opening access to Northrop Grumman’s three government-accredited chip manufacturing facilities for all partners within the defense industrial base.  
• Defense Electronics: Made in Linthicum. Northrop Grumman’s Linthicum site is a world leader in the design and manufacture of defense electronics, spanning an impressive 20 buildings. From foundry to test, this footprint enables a high degree of vertical integration throughout operations. The Linthicum site has long been a pioneer of multispectral sensors with a strong focus on radar and radio frequency antennas. Leveraging exquisite electronics and advanced software, the sensors accurately detect at extremely long ranges from a variety of size, weight and power envelopes and operate in extreme environments.
• Seeing Where Others Can’t: Multifunction Sensors. In Baltimore, Northrop Grumman builds versatile, multi-domain multifunction sensors that support both ground and air operations. Combining advanced electronics and software, these scalable, combat-proven solutions serve both crewed and uncrewed systems for faster, more reliable decision making. From the AN/APG-81 AESA radar to the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar, these solutions provide warfighters unparalleled situational awareness and accurate target tracking at long ranges.
• Exploring the Ocean’s Depths. Northrop Grumman’s Annapolis facility is pioneering capabilities in the undersea domain. Manta Ray – a new class of UUVs – is built and tested onsite and is designed for long-duration, long-rage and payload-capable undersea missions. µSAS – also developed in Annapolis – allows underwater vehicles to capture precise imagery of the ocean and seabed, providing situational awareness in depths that are otherwise unexplored.
• Delivering at the Speed of Relevance. Northrop Grumman manufacturing sites in Maryland advance national security in space every day, rapidly providing high-reliability payloads and single-point-failure products that help bring our warfighters home safely.
• Connecting the World. Our proven Maryland-made space avionics and thermal control products have supported civil and commercial space missions for over six decades enabling essential climate monitoring, increasing emergency preparedness, expanding humanity’s understanding of the universe and connecting the world through telecommunications.

From enhancing national security with breakthroughs in hypersonic technology, proven space manufacturing at speed, and microelectronics to unlocking new possibilities in undersea capabilities, Northrop Grumman’s Maryland workforce is always driving innovation. With a commitment to continuous expansion and a pioneering spirit, the Maryland sites are advancing critical solutions that protect the nation and shape the future of defense technology.

With nearly 100,000 employees and over 30 million square feet of manufacturing space – more than 500 football fields – Northrop Grumman has the capacity, scale, and agility to drive innovation at unprecedented speeds. The company’s manufacturing approach isn’t just about flawless production – it was developed to accelerate and enhance the entire process from design and development to production and testing. The company has invested in U.S. infrastructure, R&D, its workforce, and supply chain to deliver the national security needs of today and for tomorrow.