Page 3 – Defense Daily

Saronic Adds Mirage And Cipher To Small Autonomous Surface Vessel Offerings

Autonomous surface vessel (ASV) developer Saronic said Wednesday it has created two new larger small unmanned surface vessel designs, boosting the range and cargo capacities of its small ASV offerings.

The new models are the 40-foot Mirage and 60-foot Cipher. The company said Mirage will have a range of over 2,000 nautical miles and can carry up to 2,00 pounds, double that of its preexisting 24-foot Corsair ASV.

Saronic argued the Cipher is a “significant leap forward” with a range over 3,000 nautical miles and can carry up to 10,000 pounds.

Saronic previously offered the Spyglass six-foot, Cutlass 14-foot small ASVs, Corsair and earlier this month announced its 150-foot Marauder medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV).

Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas in a statement underscored these increasing options are geared at offering a “diverse range of ASVs” to support critical mission needs for the U.S. and allied militaries.

“We are committed to advancing autonomous maritime capabilities that protect critical waterways, secure the maritime domain, and deliver lasting economic and security advantages to the U.S. and its allies. The future of maritime dominance depends on the rapid adoption of these technologies,” Mavrookas said in a statement.

The company said the models can support a range of naval requirements as well as apply various uses to the commercial maritime industry, like port-to-port logistics and supporting harbor operations.

Saronic also said the company will leverage its vertically integrated approach to ultimately build Mirage and Cipher vehicles, with in-house development of hardware, software, and autonomy to work seamlessly together combined with Saronic’s unified software and autonomy stack powering the platforms.

It added the new platforms will be built around a modular software architecture that boasts adaptability to easily integrate new technologies, sensors and payloads.

Saronic also boasted that all of its ASV models are designed for scalability, so production workflows and end-of-line processes can be replicated to more easily scale up production as interest and orders increase.

This announcement comes a week after Saronic announced it acquired the small Louisiana-based Gulf Craft shipbuilder, providing it a Gulf Coast facility to support development and production of its Marauder ASV (Defense Daily, April 16).

Lockheed Martin Nabs $180 Million To Convert Three F-35s To Test Variant

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $180 million modification on April 21 to support converting three F-35 aircraft to a test variant.

The contract announcement said this adds scope to the previous contract to procure materials, parts and components to support converting three production F-35s to “flight science replacement aircraft.”

Hill Air Force Base F-35As fly in formation over the Utah Test and Training Range, March 30, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/R. Nial Bradshaw)

DoD said they require these new flight science aircraft “to prevent any increase in the test capability gap, and allow for future, holistic flight science testing of block four capabilities” for F-35 customers. The department plans for these aircraft to replace the current testing fleet and be ready between 2029 and 2034.

A May 2024 Government Accountability Office report noted the F-35 current developmental testing fleet only consists of four flight science aircraft that are over 10 years old and have frequent maintenance issues. Three of them are often down for maintenance at the same time.

Until these F-35s are delivered, the F-35 program office is building four modified developmental testing aircraft to be completed by 2026, which use extra instrumentation attached after reduction to allow them to perform basic developmental l weapons testing.

This latest contracted work is expected to be finished by December 2028.

The fiscal year 2024 defense authorization act directed the program executive officer for F-35 to designate two each F-35As, F-35Bs and F-35Cs for six total Lot 19 or later aircraft to be manufactured and delivered by 2030 in a test configuration.

Then the FY 2025 defense policy bill added three more to make it nine F-35 test conversions via an amendment sponsored by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.).

Boeing Selling Some Of Its Digital Aviation Solutions Business For $11 Billion

Boeing [BA] on Tuesday said it has agreed to sell portions of its Digital Aviation Solutions business for $10.6 billion in cash to the software investment firm Thoma Bravo, a move initiated by new Boeing chief Kelly Ortberg who is assessing the overall portfolio to focus on core assets and raise cash to pay down debt.

The struggling aerospace and defense giant, which notched a huge win recently to develop the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter aircraft, will report first quarter financial results on Wednesday.

The pending divestiture, which is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in 2025, includes the Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData, and OzRunways assets. Boeing will keep certain digital capabilities that relate to aircraft and fleet-specific data to continue to support its commercial and defense customers with fleet maintenance, diagnostics, and repair services, and “predictive and prognostic maintenance insights,” the company said.

“This enables all parts of the digital portfolio to focus on their strengths,” Chris Raymond, president and CEO of Boeing Global Services, said in a statement. “Our commitment to meeting our customers’ needs is unwavering as we move forward with our core products and services to support their fleets.”

Boeing said it has about 3,900 employees globally in its Digital Aviation Solutions business.

Boeing’s financial adviser on the deal is

Citi.

Army, GD OTS Open New 155mm Ammo Final Assembly Facility

The Army and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD OTS) [GD] on Tuesday opened a new load, assemble and pack (LAP) facility for 155mm artillery projectiles, as the service continues its push to reach a build rate of 100,000 rounds per month.

The new facility in Camden, Arkansas will have two LAP lines, according to the Army, that will support final assembly of 50,000 155mm artillery rounds per month when fully operational.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll tours the newly opened Load, Assemble, and Pack (LAP) facility in Camden, AR, on April 22, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Mejia)

“The Army must transform and get war-winning capabilities into the hands of soldiers now, including key munitions. The Camden load, assembly, and pack munitions facility is just one of several modernization investments the Army is making to reinforce and strengthen our defense industrial base,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said in a statement. “The Army remains committed to delivering relevant munitions at speed and scale to our soldiers, the joint force and allies and partners. It is not lost on us that a key component of victory on the battlefield starts in our production facilities.”

The Army over the last few years has incrementally increased its 155mm artillery shell production to reach a goal to build 100,000 155mm rounds per month by late 2025, as the service works to replenish its own stockpiles and support requirements for international partners such as Ukraine.

“Since 2022, the Army has nearly quadrupled its monthly production of this critical munition—driven by efforts to improve readiness, respond to global demands, and incorporate lessons learned from current conflicts,” the Army said on Tuesday

In October 2023, the Army selected GD OTS to compete for orders under a $974.4 million Army deal to load, assemble and pack 155mm M1128 artillery rounds and a separate $993.8 million production contract for 155mm M795 artillery rounds (Defense Daily, Oct. 2 2023).

GD OTS noted at the time that it had received an initial $218 million task order under the LAP contract that included “funding for M1128 facilitization and production at OTS’ operations in Camden, Arkansas.”

“This General Dynamics Camden facility was designed and purpose-built to integrate new, innovative artillery production and assembly processes, providing a more resilient and enduring industrial capability for our warfighters,” GD OTS President Joshua Thompson said on Tuesday.

The new LAP facility is set to incorporate “advanced automation and digital quality tracking for improved consistency and throughput” and will utilize a “next-generation air-cooling system for explosive curing to reduce water use in contrast to legacy cooling methods,” the Army said.

Army Vice Chief Eyes Flexible Funding For Any Tech Improving Faster Than Budget Cycle

As the Army seeks new flexible funding authority for capabilities such as drones and electronic warfare, a senior Army official said Tuesday the strategy should eventually cover all technology that advances faster than the standard budget cycle.

Gen. James Mingus, the Army vice chief of staff, cited the push for budget line item consolidation as a “big component” of the ability to more rapidly adopt emerging technology and capability upgrades.

U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus leads a discussion during Project Convergence – Capstone 4 at Camp Pendleton, Calif. on Feb. 28 (U.S. Army Photo)

“Between how we write our requirements [and] how we do our budget, all those things prevent us from being able to keep up with technology. And so, as I’ve been on the Hill, the way I’ve described it is anything in the technology space that is [improving] faster than our traditional budget cycle has to be built into this flexible funding strategy,” Mingus said during an Association of the U.S. Army event.

“The speed in which we want to move in the EW, counter-UAS, UAS, robotics autonomy [and] full autonomy [space], that absolutely has to keep pace with the rate at which you are going. And you, the industry folks that are in the room here, are actually moving faster than we will. And you will always move faster,” Mingus added.

Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich, deputy chief of staff G-8, said last month the Army views its initial effort to gain flexible funding authority for drones, C-UAS and EW as a “pilot program” it could look to expand upon if there’s success with the effort (Defense Daily, March 19).

Mingus added that securing support for the ability to flexibly move funding around those capability areas rather than rigid budget line items will allow the Army procure the most promising technology in a given category being locked into one type of system tied to a specific budget line.

“Each of those elements probably has 15 to 20 individual budget lines associated with each [type] of equipment. What we want to do is compress that down into a single line of accounting when we get that money back from Congress,” Mingus said.

Following passage of the full-year continuing resolution, congressional appropriators provided Pentagon leadership with a plan for how they would like fiscal year 2025 defense funds spent under the stopgap funding measure, which included granting the Army flexibility for C-UAS spending (Defense Daily, March 20).

Mingus also addressed potential industry concerns related to funding predictability as it relates to seeking a more flexible funding approach.

“I know you want predictability. You like that single [budget] line that goes for 10, 20, 30 years so you can count on that [funding] stream that’s out there. What I would challenge is that funding stream is still going to be there,” Mingus said.“That money is going to be there every single year. We want you to come forward with the best that you absolutely can have and everybody’s going to have the ability to compete in that space. And what that does is make everyone in this room just a little bit better and we benefit from it and, most importantly, our soldiers on the modern battlefield will benefit from the competition that’s going to ensue as a result.”

Earnings Dip Despite Higher Sales At RTX On Divestiture; Sees Potential $850 Million Hit From Tariffs

RTX [RTX] on Tuesday reported solid sales gains in its first quarter but earnings fell due to the divesture a year ago of its former Cybersecurity, Intelligence and Services business.

The company also outlined $900 million in potential tariff impacts to its operating profit in 2025 related to U.S. and reciprocal duties with major trading partners, in particular China, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union related to President Trump’s trade war with most of the world. Various mitigations such as pricing, operational actions, regulatory mechanisms, and others could soften the blow by about $50 million.

The situation remains “fluid” with “multiple variables,” Chris Calio, president and CEO of RTX, said Tuesday on the company’s first quarter financial results call. He said the various puts and takes on the tariff equation represent a “framework,” and for now the company’s 2025 guidance does not assume potential impacts from the tariffs.

“Generally speaking, the aerospace and defense sector has operated a duty free environment, and that has been instrumental to the industry maintaining one of the largest trade surpluses across American manufacturing industries for decades,” Calio said. He later cautioned that the estimates of the tariff impacts “don’t include secondary tariff related impacts, such as changes to customer demand.”

Supply chain overhangs that have dampened RTX’s sales and performance—in some cases dating back to the COVID 19 pandemic—continue to diminish, Calio said, highlighting improvements in structural castings used in aircraft engine, materials for the Raytheon defense segment, supplies for the Collins Aerospace segment, and increased supplies of solid rocket motors.

Overall, RTX buys about 65 percent of its products from domestic suppliers, Calio said. He also highlighted that in the last five years RTX has invested nearly $10 billion to improve its “domestic manufacturing footprint and capabilities,” and in 2025 plans to spend another $2 billion to “further increase our U.S. capacity.”

Net income was down 10 percent to $1.5 billion, $1.14 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.7 billion ($1.17 EPS) a year ago. Excluding acquisition accounting adjustments, restructuring costs, and other non-recurring items, adjusted earnings of $1.47 were up 10 percent and beat consensus estimates by 12 cents.

Sales increased 5 percent to $20.3 billion versus $19.3 billion. Excluding divestitures, revenue was up 8 percent organically, largely driven by commercial aftermarket work in the Collins and Pratt & Whitney segments. Defense sales within both segments were higher on C4I work, the Survivable Air Operations Center program, F-35 fighter program, engines for the Air Force’s KC-46 tanker, and the F135 Engine Corp Upgrade program.

Revenue was down at Raytheon on the sale of the cyber business but absent the divestiture organic growth was 2 percent.

Net income slid 10 percent to $1.5 billion, $1.14 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.7 billion ($1.28 EPS). Excluding restructuring costs, acquisition accounting adjustments, and non-recurring items, adjusted earnings of $1.47 EPS were 12 cents higher than analysts’ estimates. Adjusted operating profits were higher across all three business segments.

RTX left its 2025 guidance intact. Free cash flow in the quarter was $792 million. Backlog stood at $217 billion consisting of $125 billion of commercial business and $92 billion defense.

IAEA Head Says U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks ‘Fraught With Opportunity,’ IAEA Involved ‘Sooner or Later’

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said “we should all welcome” the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in a panel at a conference in Washington Tuesday.

“I would say this is a moment, if I have to characterize it, this is a moment which is fraught with opportunity,” Grossi said in a panel, moderated by Corey Hinderstein, Vice President for Policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, at the 2025 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington. “But at the same time, it’s like we are walking a tightrope, right?”

Grossi continued to say that the process is ongoing, and should be welcomed because “we have, for the first time, the United States talking to Iran directly, indirectly.” He added that “we were coming from a relatively long period where the issue was not moving. But the fact that the issue was not moving did not mean that the centrifuges were not spinning.”

Grossi visited Iran last week, where he met with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. Aragchi was supposed to speak at the conference Monday, but his appearance was canceled that morning.

Grossi’s meeting came before officials from Iran and the U.S. met in Rome for a second round of talks. Grossi indicated there will be a third round, and added that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “not privy to the internal negotiation,” but it’s “quite obvious that sooner or later, that we will have to be involved.”

“Any agreement without verification is just a piece of paper, alright,” Grossi said. “We will have to provide for the necessary inspections that will hopefully take place.”

According to the IAEA, Iran now has an increasing stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium, multiple times the 3.67% limit granted by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal President Trump pulled from in his first term, and not far from the 90% needed to build a nuclear weapon. Hinderstein quoted Grossi as saying, after his recent visit to Iran, that he felt like “we were running out of time.”

Lockheed Will Leverage NGAD Investment For F-35+ To Approach 6th Gen Aircraft At Half Cost

Despite losing out on a potential new franchise aircraft program, Lockheed Martin [LMT] will leverage its investments in the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform for upgrades of its F-35 multi-role fighter to give the fifth generation aircraft 80 percent of the capabilities of sixth generation aircraft at half the cost, the company’s top executive said on Tuesday.

Lockheed Martin will not protest the loss of NGAD to Boeing [BA] and instead but will pour the “knowledge and technology gained” from work on the sixth generation fighter into the F-35 Plus, Jim Taiclet, the company’s chairman, president, and CEO, said during the first quarter earnings call.

The NGAD lessons will also be applied to the Air Force’s fleet of Lockheed Martin-built F-22 fighters, which NGAD will replace, Taiclet said.

“I feel that we can have, again, 80 percent of the capability, potentially at 50 percent of the cost per unit aircraft, by taking the F-35 chassis and applying numerous advanced technology, some of which are already in process in Block IV on F-35 but others that we can apply, and we are going to offer, fairly rapidly to the Department of Defense to really take that chassis and supercharge it for the future,” he told investors.

These advanced technologies, some of which are classified, include radar and passive infrared sensors to sense the enemy and attack them before they know “we’re there,” Taiclet said he told President Trump previously. The passive infrared capability is critical for this to avoid transmitting signals that radar would and that enable the enemy to detect and possibly “shoot me,” he said.

Taiclet also said that the “fifth generation-plus” aircraft would benefit from stealth technology techniques the company used in its NGAD bid. These include materials, geometries, and countermeasures.

The F-35 and F-22 will also benefit from a “tracking system and a weapon that can go farther and hit the enemy plane before they can ever reach you,” he said.

“So, we’re basically going to take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari,” he said.

The funding for the aircraft upgrades has come from the government and Lockheed Martin for NGAD and F-35 development, and from international allies that partnered on F-35, Taiclet said.

Taiclet described the fifth generation-plus upgrades as a “best value approach” to account for limited customer budgets, that also has to be “scalable” and “affordable.”

There are more than 1,100 F-35s that have been delivered to U.S. and international customers and current plans call for more than 3,500 of the aircraft, creating plenty of opportunity for the company’s upgrade plans, Taiclet said. The upgrades are designed for exportability, he said, noting that final decisions will be up to the U.S. government.

Taiclet also highlighted Lockheed Martin’s array of systems that would play a part in a future homeland missile defense system, which Trump calls the Golden Dome for America. The company already has a range of interceptors, related sensing and networking capabilities, and satellites that will be part of the solution, he said.

Evan Scott, Lockheed Martin’s new chief financial officer, said the company responded to a recent Golden Dome information request by the Missile Defense Agency with more than 100 different capabilities, with pricing, across all the company’s operating segments “with a focus on cross-domain architecture.”

Sales in the quarter increased 4 percent to $18 billion from $17.2 billion a year ago driven by higher volume on missiles and related programs like HIMARS, increased work on the Canadian Surface Combatant, radar programs, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter production, and F-35 production. Space Systems was the lone operating segment reporting lower sales, down on work on the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite, and lower volume on the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer satellite communications programs.

Net income rose 11 percent to $1.7 billion, $7.28 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.5 billion ($6.39 EPS), handily beating consensus estimates of $6.34 EPS. All four business segments enjoyed higher operating income.

The company maintained its guidance for 2025. Scott said the strong first quarter profits give the company guidance it can absorb any impacts from the NGAD loss and tariffs. The company still needs to “complete a thorough business assessment of these dynamics” but remains “optimistic” on meeting 2025 profit targets, he said.

Asked about new restriction by China on exports of rare earth metals, Taiclet replied the company and its suppliers have contracts “have specified non-Chinese sources for the materials.” Even if there is a disruption in rare earths, the company is confident it will meet its customer delivery targets this year given it has sufficient quantities of these materials, Maria Ricciardone, Lockheed Martin’s treasurer, said.

Backlog at the end of the quarter stood at $173 billion, down from $176 billion at the end of 2025. Free cash flow in the quarter was $955 million.

USAF Eyes Sustainment Contract for BACN Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force may award an up to five-year contract for domestic and foreign sustainment of the service’s E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) aircraft.

Bombardier Global business jets, once outfitted with the Northrop Grumman [NOC] BACN military communications package, become E-11As in the Air Force inventory.

In October, 2023, the Air Force picked Northrop Grumman to support BACN at Robins AFB, Ga.–what is to be the plane’s first main operating base (MOB), but the service has not finalized the decision.

“It is anticipated that at the start of…this E-11A platform maintenance contract, there will be three aircraft operating OCONUS [outside the continental United States] at FOL #1 [forward operating location] and one aircraft operating CONUS from the MOB,” according to a Tuesday business notice. “This may change depending on the ACC [Air Combat Command] final decision on the standup date of the MOB and/or the delivery schedule of the two additional new aircraft that will be delivered to the MOB during the base year. Additional aircraft are also scheduled to be delivered in option year 1, option year 2 and option year 3 for a final total of nine BACN aircraft.”

Northrop Grumman said last June that the Air Force had awarded the company a nearly $269 million BACN task order through January, 2027 for continued operations and sustainment (Defense Daily, June 6, 2024).

The task order announced by Northrop Grumman last summer covers operations and sustainment of current and future payloads; 24/7 connectivity; and “inclusion of the BACN platform in four large force customer exercises per year for the duration of the task order,” the company said.

In January, 2023, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $464 million contract through Jan. 23, 2028 for “platform maintenance and main operating base contractor logistics support establishment.”

A month later, the Air Force activated the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron at Robins to fly BACN. The BACN squadron under the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks, N.D., is expected be fully operational by ﬁscal year 2027.

In January 2021 the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a BACN operations and sustainment contract worth up to $3.6 billion.

The BACN payload has had extensive combat field time since deployment began on Global Hawk drones in October 2008, Northrop Grumman has said.

Northrop Grumman has said that BACN will be critical in allowing Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control.

“BACN technology reduces line-of-sight issues by enabling real-time information flow across the battlespace between similar and dissimilar tactical data link and voice systems through relay, bridging, and data translation,” the Air Force has said. “Because of its flexible deployment options and ability to operate at high altitudes, BACN allows air and surface forces to overcome communications difficulties caused by mountains, rough terrain, or distance.”

Northrop Takes $397 Million B-21 Charge To Accelerate Production Rates, Prep For Program Increase

A manufacturing process change that will allow Northrop Grumman [NOC] to reduce risk, increase production rates, and set the foundation for expanded production numbers of the B-21 stealth bomber beyond current plans helped lead to a $397 million after-tax loss on the Air Force program in the first quarter, the company said on Tuesday.

The manufacturing change relates to the first five low-rate initial production (LRIP) options for the bomber, including a $226 million pre-tax reserve on the first two lots. On top of the change, Northrop Grumman said the B-21 charge also accounts for higher than expected prices and “consumption” of “general procurement materials” due to macroeconomic factors and lessons learned so far in initial aircraft production, Kathy Warden, Northrop Grumman’s chairwoman, president, and CEO, said on the company’s earnings call.

Current plans call for 100 B-21s although the Air Force has said it is considering increasing production beyond that and the process change provides “optionality” for this, Warden said. It will help the customer “de-risking options beyond the program of record,” she said.

Production of the first two LRIP lots is ongoing, and the purchase of some long-lead items have been purchased through the fourth lot, Warden said. The company does not expect to have to relearn the lessons of the manufacturing process changes incorporated in the first two production options for future lots, she said, adding that without the changes “that learning only would have compounded if we would have waited later in the program and had a higher production volume.”

Warden declined to break out the respective values of the process charge and the materials costs, but noted the former is higher. The investment in the process change was a joint decision with the Air Force, she said.

“So, we’ve built a good bit of experience now in building the aircraft, and as we have progressed through the build process, we made the determination working with the Air Force to reduce risk as we scale to the program of record, which will happen at the end of LRIP, and even to position us now to ramp above the program of record,” Warden said.

The five LRIP lots cover 21 B-21s. The next 19 bombers will be contracted under not-to-exceed (NTE) terms that were set at a higher price than LRIP deal. Northrop Grumman still expects to turn a profit under the NTE contract, Warden said, noting the manufacturing process change should “positively impact our ability to deliver the NTE units profitably.”

Increases in the cost and quantity of the general procurement materials could be a partial drag on the aircraft built under the NTE terms, she said.

Overall, in the quarter, net income tumbled 49 percent to $481 million, $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) from $944 million ($6.32 EPS), far below consensus estimates of $6.24 EPS). In addition to the B-21 charge, earnings also declined on lower operating profit in the Space Systems segment—down on lower sales—and the Mission Systems segment—off on investments in classified business opportunities and lower sales in microelectronics.

Segment operating margins were 6 percent versus 10.1 percent a year ago, reflecting the B-21 charge and operations at the Mission Systems segment.

Sales in the quarter fell 7 percent to $9.5 billion from $10.1 billion a year ago, with the B-21 being a $100 million headwind. Sales related to sustainment of the F-35 fighter were also down, partly due to materials timing, and the Space Systems segment also recorded lower revenue on the wind-down of work on classified space and the Next Generation Interceptor programs, declines in NASA resupply missions, and work on Space Development Agency and other classified space programs.
International business accounted for 14 percent of sales in the quarter.

The outlook for sales in 2025 is unchanged at between $42 billion and $42.5 billion and the same with free cash flow, which is forecast in the $2.9 billion to $3.3 billion range. However, segment operating income is now expected to be between $4.2 billion and nearly $4.4 billion, down from the prior range of nearly $4.7 billion to $4.8 billion. Adjusted earnings are forecast between $24.95 and $25.35 EPS, down a dime from previous guidance.

Warden also gave an update on a recent explosion at a solid rocket motor-related facility in Promontory, Utah, that produced an ingredient used in the propellant for large rocket motors. Northrop Grumman has external supply sources and does not expect an impact on its programs, she said.