Northrop to buy Orbital ATK

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is acquiring space-focused Orbital ATK for about $7.8B. The deal will give NG a major role in space and missiles. Orbital, based in Dulles, Va., makes rocket motors and designs and produces launch vehicles. The deal comes as the Pentagon increasingly looks at space as a battle front. It gives Falls Church, Va.-based Northrop Grumman missile, satellite and rocket capabilities. The Orbital purchase ranks as the largest defense deal since Lockheed Martin bought Sikorsky from United Technologies Corp. Orbital and ATK merged in 2014. (Source: LA Times 09/18/17) Gulf Coast Note: Buying Orbital will make Northrop the fourth largest defense contractor displacing Raytheon. Orbital ATK has an Aerospace Structures’ Flight Systems facility located in Iuka, Miss. Northrop Grumman has Gulf Coast facilities at Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Moss Point and Gulfport, Miss.; and Lake Charles and New Orleans, La.