Northrop Grumman Corporation plans five centers of design and integration excellence to support its Aerospace Systems sector's manned aircraft, unmanned systems and electronic attack businesses in three different states.

Its Manned Aircraft Design Center of Excellence will be located in Melbourne, Fla., and include aircraft design work currently being performed at the company's Bethpage, N.Y., facility. The B-2, F/A-18 and F-35 programs will remain in Palmdale, El Segundo and Redondo Beach, Calif. In addition, the company designated two Aircraft Integration Centers of Excellence, one in Palmdale, Calif. and another in St. Augustine, Fla.

Northrop Grumman’s Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence will be located at its Rancho Bernardo facility in San Diego, Calif. Two programs will transition to that center: the MQ-4C Triton program from Bethpage, N.Y., and the NATO Airborne Ground Surveillance program from Melbourne, Fla. Finally, its Electronic Attack Center of Excellence will be located in Bethpage, N.Y., and will include the Aerospace Systems' Electronic Attack program team.

"Consolidating these centers of excellence will improve our strategic alignment with our customers' need for increasingly innovative and affordable products, services and solutions," said Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman. "We continuously examine our operational capacity to determine how we can leverage it in the most efficient and cost-competitive manner. Given the current budget environment, it is imperative that we act to enhance future performance, innovation and affordability for our customers."