Northrop Grumman Names Graham K. Thornton Executive Director of Northrop Grumman - United Kingdom

Consolidates business activities into a new London office.

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, Feb. 1, 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has appointed Graham K. Thornton to lead the company’s growing business activities in its newly consolidated United Kingdom office located in London, effective immediately.

A photo accompanying this news release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc/

In this new position, Thornton will be the company’s primary contact with U.K. and other international military, government and commercial customers. Thornton will report to David W. Zolet, vice president of corporate business development.

“Northrop Grumman is fortunate to have Graham Thornton managing its business development and government relations activities in the United Kingdom,” said Robert W. Helm, corporate vice president of business development and government relations for Northrop Grumman. “Graham’s career spans senior management positions in defense electronics, aerospace, naval systems and space technology, and he brings to this new position a wealth of experience and knowledge. We look forward to the contributions he will make in enhancing Northrop Grumman’s presence in the United Kingdom and beyond.”

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Thornton provided business-development and strategic-planning consulting services to a number of defense and high-technology companies.

Previously, Thornton worked for TRW Aeronautical Systems as vice president of business development, and was responsible for worldwide marketing and sales, as well as management of all new product introductions for the group which generated $1.2 billion in sales. With the Smiths Group PLC, Thornton held the position of aerospace group director - business development. He managed strategic marketing and business development across the whole group, including a team of 80 senior marketing and sales people based in five countries.

Thornton earned a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in physics from the University of Southampton. He is a chartered physicist and mechanical engineer; a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society; a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and a member of the Institute of Physics. He also lectured in engineering science at the University of Oxford.

Northrop Grumman, which has more than 500 employees in the United Kingdom, has been expanding its U.K. presence. Last year, the company was selected by the Ministry of Defence to provide aircraft maintenance, supply chain management, training, technical-publications support and design-engineering support services for the Royal Air Force fleet of E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft.

In the area of public safety systems, the company provides an identification system that collects finger and palm prints as part of an integrated computer system designed to link more than 50 police forces and agencies in the United Kingdom. This system gives U.K. police forces the capability to search for these identifying marks against a database of more than 6 million records in minutes.

Northrop Grumman is the systems integrator for the Public Safety Radio Communications Project to replace and operate the U.K. emergency services radio communications system. In addition, the company supports the innovative e-Borders program, which will deliver timely data, information, intelligence and risk assessment to relevant government agencies on all passengers seeking to enter or leave the United Kingdom.

Northrop Grumman also provides air traffic control voice communications systems, defence electronics, marine navigation systems and information technology systems and support for both U.K. and international customers.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides a broad array of technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding, and space technology. The company has more than 125,000 employees and operates in all 50 states and 25 countries and serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

Contact Information

Randy Belote

Media Contact

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Contact via E-mail