# Northrop Corporation
**Northrop Corporation** was an American aircraft and defense manufacturer, formed in [Hawthorne, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/hawthorne-california) in 1939 as Northrop Aircraft Incorporated and reincorporated in Delaware in 1985 as Northrop Corporation.[1](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/static-files/57da3af7-1993-40fb-8103-156a1710c0ec) The company was known for [Jack Northrop](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-northrop)'s flying wing bomber designs of the 1940s, the long-lived F-5 fighter family, and the B-2 stealth bomber program, and it ceased to exist as an independent company on May 18, 1994, when it purchased Grumman Corporation and was renamed Northrop Grumman Corporation.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/) • [3](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939, Hawthorne, California, as Northrop Aircraft Incorporated[1](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/static-files/57da3af7-1993-40fb-8103-156a1710c0ec) |
| Reincorporation | Delaware, 1985, as Northrop Corporation[1](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/static-files/57da3af7-1993-40fb-8103-156a1710c0ec) |
| Signature aircraft | Flying wing bombers XB-35/YB-35 (1946) and jet-powered YB-49 (first flight October 21, 1947)[4](https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041005/flashback-back-to-the-future-the-resurgence-of-the-flying-wing-in-the-21st-cent/) • [5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/) |
| F-5 fighter | First flight July 31, 1963; more than 2,600 built; deliveries from 1964 to 1989, all on schedule and at or below contract price[6](https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/f5-tiger) |
| F-20 Tigershark | Privately financed export fighter canceled in November 1986 after $1.2 billion of corporate funds[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-18-fi-8244-story.html) |
| B-2 bomber | Prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force stealth bomber, the company's largest program[3](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html) |
| End of independence | Purchased Grumman Corporation for $2.16 billion; renamed Northrop Grumman Corporation effective May 18, 1994[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/) • [3](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html) |
## The flying wing era
Over the years, Northrop produced numerous experimental flying wing prototypes for the Army Air Forces, remaining committed to the flying wing concept through the X/YB-35 of 1946 and its jet-powered evolution, the YB-49 of 1947.[4](https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041005/flashback-back-to-the-future-the-resurgence-of-the-flying-wing-in-the-21st-cent/) The conversion program began when the Army Air Forces approved a change order in June 1945 to replace the four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines and contra-rotating propellers of two YB-35s with eight Allison TG-180 (J35) turbojet engines, adding four vertical stabilizers and four air dams on the wings; the completed aircraft were redesignated YB-49.[5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/) The first conversion took about two years, and YB-49 No. 1 (S/N 42-102367) flew for the first time on October 21, 1947.[5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/)
**Stability and accuracy problems.** Flight testing showed generally good performance, but stability during simulated bomb runs and political problems doomed the flying wing.[5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/) Flight control issues with pitch and yaw plagued the YB-49's capability as a bomber. An autopilot called "Little Herbert" effectively eliminated the yaw, but pitch problems remained, and the aircraft took four times longer to achieve bomb run stability than the B-29, with a circular target miss distance twice as great; Air Force test pilots judged the flying wing unsuitable for use as a bomber.[4](https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041005/flashback-back-to-the-future-the-resurgence-of-the-flying-wing-in-the-21st-cent/) In retrospect, many of the stability problems may have been insoluble with late-1940s technology, requiring the fly-by-wire systems developed much later.[8](https://www.flighttestsafety.org/images/F.T._Accidents_1.pdf)
The program briefly gained new life when the Air Material Command determined in April 1948 that the YB-49 might serve as a strategic reconnaissance platform, and in August 1948 the Air Force ordered 30 YRB-49 prototypes, requiring Northrop Aircraft, Inc. to deliver three per month.[4](https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041005/flashback-back-to-the-future-the-resurgence-of-the-flying-wing-in-the-21st-cent/) The YRB-49A made its first flight on May 4, 1950.[9](https://www.aftc.af.mil/News/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2555363/may-4-1950-northrops-yrb-49a-made-its-first-flight/) The YRB-49 program was later canceled, and two Air Force installations were renamed in honor of the pilots who lost their lives with the aircraft.[5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/) The flying wing bomber concept then remained dormant until the Northrop B-2 "Spirit" stealth bomber appeared nearly 40 years after the YB-49's last flight.[5](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/)
## The F-5 and the F-20 gamble
Northrop's most commercially durable military design was the F-5. The F-5 tactical fighter series first flew on July 31, 1963, at [Edwards Air Force Base](https://www.edgepedia.org/edwards-air-force-base), California, and more than 2,600 were built by Northrop and under co-production and licensing agreements with Canada, the Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Spain, and Switzerland.[6](https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/f5-tiger) From first delivery in 1964 to the final one in 1989, every aircraft was delivered on schedule, at or below contract price, and with performance as promised; about two-thirds of the original production F-5s remained operational in 26 countries, and the type later shifted toward a lead-in trainer role.[6](https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/f5-tiger)
**The F-20 Tigershark.** In 1980 Northrop initiated the F-20 program, an updated derivative of the F-5 intended under U.S. policy as an export fighter for U.S. allies.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-18-fi-8244-story.html) The aircraft, first flown on August 30, 1982, began as the F-5G and was redesigned to the point of being almost an entirely new aircraft.[10](https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/what-might-have-been-f-20-tigershark/) • [11](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1987_01.pdf) After investing $1.2 billion of its own corporate funds, Northrop announced in November 1986 that it would cut off spending on the program at the end of the year, taking a $250-million charge in 1986, after the Air Force decided to use modified F-16A aircraft for the air defense mission and no buyers emerged.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-18-fi-8244-story.html) • [11](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1987_01.pdf) The Washington Post described the halted Tigershark as the most costly privately financed warplane ever built.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1986/11/18/northrop-ends-tigershark-program/05cd2bf6-a942-432c-a535-3dd8ebb25e19/)
## The B-2 and the merger with Grumman
By the 1990s Northrop was prime contractor for the B-2 stealth bomber, with final assembly and systems integration at its [Palmdale, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/palmdale-california) facility, and a top subcontractor on the F/A-18, building approximately 40 percent of that aircraft including the center and aft fuselage.[3](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html) The B-2 work changed the company's fortunes, transforming a small firm known for lightweight fighters into a defense behemoth, though the program itself ran through production delays and engineering snags.[13](https://time.com/6238168/b-21-raider-bomber-us-military-exclusive/)
**The fight for Grumman.** In March 1994 a $1.9-billion bid by Martin Marietta for Grumman prompted a rival $2-billion offer from Northrop, creating a hostile battle of prime contractors amid defense-industry consolidation driven by cuts in military spending.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-16-fi-34780-story.html) Northrop outbid [Martin Marietta](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-marietta) by $300 million the next month, and Martin Marietta's chairman, [Norman R. Augustine](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-r-augustine), chose not to join a bidding war.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/) On May 18, 1994, Northrop closed its $2.16 billion purchase of Grumman; the company purchased Grumman's outstanding common stock for $2.1 billion in the second quarter of 1994 and was renamed Northrop Grumman Corporation effective that day.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/) • [3](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html) Northrop chairman Kent Kresa led the combined company, which paired Grumman's JSTARS reconnaissance aircraft with Northrop's B-2 bomber and TSSAM missile in a strategy of dominating systems that move intelligence from reconnaissance craft to strike aircraft.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/)
## Legacy
[Northrop Grumman](https://www.edgepedia.org/northrop-grumman) traces its heritage to the integration of more than 20 pioneering aerospace, technology, and defense companies, with the Grumman merger of April 1994 a central step.[15](https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/northrop-grumman-heritage) The flying wing lineage continued: Northrop won the B-21 Raider bomber contract in 2015, beating a joint bid by Boeing and [Lockheed Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lockheed-martin), and the B-21 is built at U.S. Air Force Plant 42, the same facility that produced the B-2.[13](https://time.com/6238168/b-21-raider-bomber-us-military-exclusive/) The F-5 line also endures in company support programs, including depot-level maintenance for the U.S. Navy's F-5E/F fleet since 1999.[6](https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/f5-tiger)
## References
1. [Northrop Grumman Corporation company history, Northrop Grumman Investor Relations](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/static-files/57da3af7-1993-40fb-8103-156a1710c0ec)
2. [Northrop and Grumman Pool Their Futures, The Washington Post (May 19, 1994)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/19/northrop-and-grumman-pool-their-futures/df25a72b-88fb-4d11-a6eb-85584d1cd74b/)
3. [Northrop Grumman Corporation SEC filing (10-K)](https://investor.northropgrumman.com/node/34221/html)
4. [Flashback: Back to the Future, The Resurgence of the Flying Wing in the 21st Century, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center](https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2041005/flashback-back-to-the-future-the-resurgence-of-the-flying-wing-in-the-21st-cent/)
5. [Northrop YB-49 Fact Sheet, National Museum of the United States Air Force](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/858861/northrop-yb-49/)
6. [F-5 Tiger Fighter Jet, Northrop Grumman](https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/f5-tiger)
7. [Northrop Halts Work on F-20 Fighter Plane, Los Angeles Times (November 18, 1986)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-18-fi-8244-story.html)
8. [Northrop YB-49, Flight Test Safety Foundation accident compilation](https://www.flighttestsafety.org/images/F.T._Accidents_1.pdf)
9. [May 4, 1950: Northrop's YRB-49A Made Its First Flight, Air Force Test Center](https://www.aftc.af.mil/News/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2555363/may-4-1950-northrops-yrb-49a-made-its-first-flight/)
10. [What Might Have Been: F-20 Tigershark, Defense Media Network](https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/what-might-have-been-f-20-tigershark/)
11. [Aerospace World, Air & Space Forces Magazine (January 1987)](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2024/09/AFmag_1987_01.pdf)
12. [Northrop Ends Tigershark Program, The Washington Post (November 18, 1986)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1986/11/18/northrop-ends-tigershark-program/05cd2bf6-a942-432c-a535-3dd8ebb25e19/)
13. [Exclusive: The Making of the U.S. Military's New Stealth Bomber, TIME (December 2022)](https://time.com/6238168/b-21-raider-bomber-us-military-exclusive/)
14. [Shrinking Arsenal: Is Consolidation Slipping Out of Defense Industry's Control?, Los Angeles Times (March 16, 1994)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-16-fi-34780-story.html)
15. [Our Heritage, Northrop Grumman](https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/northrop-grumman-heritage)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Aviation › Aircraft › Aircraft manufacturers and design bureaus › Major airframe manufacturers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license