NOC News & Events

A Morgan Stanley (MS) broker for U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tried to make a major investment in big defense names in the weeks leading up to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, the Financial Times' Paul Murphy, Harriet Agnew, Joshua Franklin, and James Politi report, citing three people familiar with the matter. The broker reached out to BlackRock (BLK) in February about investing millions of dollars in the asset manager's Defense Industrials Active ETF shortly before the U.S. launched strikes in Iran, the authors say. The inquiry on behalf of Hegseth was flagged internally at BlackRock, the authors note, citing people familiar with the matter. The aforementioned ETF's largest holdings include RTX (RTX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and Northrop Grumman (NOC), all of which count the U.S. government as their biggest customers, as well as Palantir (PLTR), according to FT.

Northrop Grumman was awarded an $884.88M cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, and fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for procurement of the 120mm Advanced Multi-Purpose M1147 High Explosive Multi-Purpose with Tracer Cartridge for the Army and future Foreign Military Sales customers. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 28, 2031. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $127.32M firm-fixed-price contract. This contract will procure the GQM-163A Coyote Supersonic Sea-skimming Target Full Rate Production Lot 18. This procurement consists of 28 GQM-163A targets and associated support, and related technical and administrative data in support of the Navy; the government of Japan; and the government of Korea. Work is expected to be completed in August 2030. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River is the contracting activity.