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.

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.CEASEFIRE:Citing a report on Israel's Channel 12, Bloomberg's Marissa Newman and Sebastian Tong write that U.S. officials are looking for a one-month ceasefire with Iran to negotiate its nuclear program and help end the war. Among the goals of the 15-point plan are for Iran to dismantle it's a nuclear program, commit to never developing nuclear weapons, ending support for militias, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the report states. Bloomberg's reporting further states that in exchange, Iran would receive U.S. assistance in developing its civilian nuclear program.Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan officials are looking to bring U.S. and Iranian officials to negotiating table in the next 48 hours, though the positions of both sides remain far apart, The Wall Street Journal.E15 WAIVER:The White House is getting ready to expand the opportunity of higher-ethanol E15 gasoline this summer by waiving the fuel from U.S. volatility requirements, Bloomberg's Jennifer Dlouhy and Elizabeth Elkin report, citing people familiar with the matter. The EPA is slated to brief industry stakeholders on the planned approach on Wednesday, the authors note. Publicly traded companies in the ethanol space include Ecopetrol, Alto Ingredients, Rex American, and Green Plains.GOLDEN DOME SOFTWARE:Anduril Industries and Palantirare members of a group developing software to run U.S. President Donald Trump's planned Golden Dome antimissile shield, the Wall Street Journal's Drew FitzGerald, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies belong to a consortium of defense and tech firms, which also includes Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman, that seeks to have the Golden Dome software ready for testing in summer 2026, FitzGerald says.LICENSE:After discovering a large smuggling scheme, U.S. lawmakers have demanded the commerce department to suspend Nvidia'slicense to export AI chips to China and south-east Asian countries, Demetri Sevastopulo of The Financial Times. Republican Senator Jim Banks and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged "immediate action" related to the "diversion of advanced American AI chips to China." In the letter, the senators wrote, "We urge all necessary and appropriate actions, including the immediate pausing, suspension, or other reconsideration of all active export licenses covering advanced Nvidia AI chips and server systems destined for... China as well as for intermediaries in south-east Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore."GATEWAY ON PAUSE:As part of its "Ignition" event on Tuesday, NASA announced a series of transformative agencywide initiatives designed to achieve President Donald J. Trump's National Space Policy and advance American leadership in space. "These actions reflect the urgency of the moment, but also the tremendous opportunity ahead for world-changing science and discovery," NASA said. "NASA is committed to achieving the near-impossible once again, to return to the Moon before the end of President Trump's term, build a Moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space. This is why it is essential we leave an event like Ignition with complete alignment on the national imperative that is our collective mission. The clock is running in this great-power competition, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. "If we concentrate NASA's extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the Moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead." Looking beyond Artemis V, NASA announced March 24 it will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface, initially targeting landings every six months, with the potential to increase cadence as capabilities mature. To achieve an enduring human presence on the Moon, NASA also announced a phased approach to building a lunar base. As part of this strategy, the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations. Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives. Publicly traded companies in the space include Intuitive Machines, Voyager Technologies, Rocket Lab, and AST SpaceMobile.INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARD:Lightbridgeannounced that it has been selected to serve on the Industry Advisory Board of a $6M nuclear materials research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy University Program. The project, awarded to The Pennsylvania State University under DOE's University Nuclear Research Infrastructure Revitalization program, will advance the study of nuclear materials critical to the development and safety assessment of next-generation reactors. Lightbridge joins X-Energy, Westinghouse Electric Company, and Kairos Power on the advisory board.PRECISION STRIKE MISSILES:In a decisive move to guarantee American overmatch against any adversary, Lockheed Martinand the Department of War announced a framework agreement to accelerate the production of Precision Strike Missiles. The agreement builds on a previous $4.94B contract award from the U.S. Army last year and together, these actions will quadruple PrSM production capacity. This initiative directly supports the national imperative to build a more lethal, resilient and ready fighting force, backed by a stronger, advanced industrial base. The agreement includes the ability to negotiate a multi-year contract up to seven years, should Congress grant multi-year authority, contingent upon future congressional authorization.SUPPLIER FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT:Honeywellannounced it has signed a supplier framework agreement with the U.S. Department of War to rapidly increase the production of critical defense technologies. This agreement includes a $500M multi-year investment to upgrade the company's production capacity. Under this agreement, Honeywell Aerospace will ramp production of the following: Navigation systems: Honeywell is a global leader in resilient navigation technology, particularly in challenging environments. The company's wide range of inertial navigators can be found in diverse industries across the aerospace, defense and industrial markets. Honeywell Aerospace navigation systems are critical enablers on most precision munition platforms globally. Assure actuators: Honeywell Assure missile maneuverability actuation and electronic control systems are the most precise and speed-responsive systems available. These actuators are used for interceptor, tactical and other strategic high-performance missiles. Electronic Warfare solutions: Electronic Warfare solutions from Honeywell Aerospace provide critical functionality on U.S. military platforms from fighter jets to the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program and on AMRAAM missiles. Advanced technologies also support Signals Intelligence and Electronic Intelligence domains.