Northrop Grumman Wins $21.1 Million Navy Order to Add NATO Radio to E-2D Hawkeye

The Melbourne, Florida, defense contractor will integrate the SATURN anti-jam radio into the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and deliver 94 modification kits, with work expected to finish in April 2028.

First Published: July 28, 2026, 1:21 PM ET

MELBOURNE, FLORIDA — Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., the fifth-largest contractor to the U.S. federal government, won a $21.1 million Navy order to fit NATO-standard secure radios into carrier-based surveillance planes, as announced on war.gov.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price order, numbered N0001926F1043, funds non-recurring engineering, software development and testing to integrate the Second Generation Anti-jam Tactical Ultra High Frequency Radio, known as SATURN, into the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The order also covers production and delivery of 94 SATURN modification kits. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland, obligated the full amount in fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds at the time of award.

“In 2024, the US government accounted for 87 percent of the company’s sales,” according to ebsco.com, underscoring how deeply the firm depends on Pentagon work of this kind.

The SATURN radio gives allied aircraft a jam-resistant channel that meets NATO interoperability requirements, letting the E-2D share airborne early-warning data with alliance forces during joint operations. Northrop Grumman builds the E-2D at its Melbourne, Florida, site, and that location will handle 99.1% of the work. Smaller shares fall to West Chester, Ohio, Ronkonkoma, New York, and Laval, Quebec, Canada. The company expects to complete the effort in April 2028.

The award benefits the Navy and NATO partners that fly or rely on shared surveillance data, while Northrop Grumman collects the revenue and sustains engineering jobs across three states. The order was not competed, meaning no rival firm had a chance to underbid it. Taxpayers carry the cost, and the cost-plus structure shifts part of the financial risk of overruns onto the government rather than the contractor.

Northrop Grumman traces its roots to Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939, and took its current form in 1994 through the merger of Northrop Corporation and Grumman Corporation, according to ebsco.com. The company employs about 95,000 people and posted revenue of $41.9 billion in 2025, according to wikipedia.org. It receives more than 2% of all federal contractor spending and ranks 110th on the Fortune 500 list.

The order is modest against the company’s broader ledger. It represents the 30th contract awarded to Northrop Grumman in 2026, lifting the firm’s total contract value for the year to $5.4 billion. The company’s record single award stands at $4.8 billion, and the 2026 Navy portfolio ranges from $9 million to $8 billion year to date. The award ranked among five Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 28, 2026, and marked the 52nd Pentagon contract placed in Florida during the year.

For the average U.S. reader, the order shows how defense dollars flow into local economies. Work concentrated in Melbourne supports skilled engineering payrolls that ripple through housing, retail and services in Florida’s Space Coast.

This has happened before. The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye line has drawn repeated modernization orders as the Navy upgrades radar, communications and mission computers on an airframe first flown in the 1960s. Incremental engineering awards like this one are the norm for keeping fielded aircraft current.

Naval Air Systems Command will oversee the next phase of the work as engineering and kit deliveries proceed. A date for the next contract decision has not been announced, though the current order runs through April 2028.

The E-2 Hawkeye’s history stretches back further than most of today’s carrier aircraft. The Grumman E-2 first flew in 1960 and entered fleet service in 1964, according to britannica.com. Grumman, which built most U.S. Navy aircraft during World War II, produced fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and later the F-14 Tomcat, according to wikipedia.org. The Hawkeye outlasted those famous fighters and remains the Navy’s carrier-borne early-warning platform more than six decades after its debut.

This contract represents the 30th contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $5,447,807,225. It is also the 52nd Department of Defense contract awarded in Florida during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., whose record stands at $4,800,000,000, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 5 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 28, 2026.