Our Heritage

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems is at the heart of the corporation's rich aerospace history. Born from the 1994 union of giants Northrop and Grumman and further enriched through the acquisition of Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical in 1999, Integrated Systems combines "best of breed" design ingenuity, innovative engineering approaches and streamlined production processes to provide integrated solutions to customers around the world. As you peruse the following history of our sector, harken back to a time when flight was just a dream for most and employing aircraft for anything other than passengers and parcel post was unheard of. We've built upon strengths in aircraft design, manufacturing and systems integration to create some of the most amazing capabilities in the world -- from the B-2 "Spirit" long-range bomber to the high-flying Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance system, from mine detection systems slated for deployment aboard Fire Scout unmanned helicopters to sophisticated electronic attack technology on the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18 Growler. Heritage know-how from Grumman, Northrop and Ryan are joining forces in new technology developments like the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program which will soon operate from U.S. Air Force Global Hawks and will be a key element of NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance program -- a multinational capability that will enhance coalition operations for decades to come. Integrated Systems builds upon the past to help Northrop Grumman define the future.

Northrop Aircraft Incorporated

A leading designer and manufacturer of strikingly original aircraft, this company pioneered the Flying Wing concept, which culminated in the B-2 stealth bomber

Year	Event
1939	John K. “Jack” Northrop, a skilled and innovative designer, forms Northrop Aircraft Incorporated in Hawthorne, Calif.
1940	Northrop builds its first aircraft, the N-3PB patrol bomber, for the Norwegian Air Force
1944	The P-61 Black Widow night fighter enters combat
1946	First flight of the XB-35 flying wing
1948	First flight of the successor to the P-61, the F-89 Scorpion, a heavily-armed, all-weather fighter-interceptor and one of the world's first jet fighters
1952	Northrop acquires Radioplane Company, manufacturer of target drones
1959	First flight of the F-5, a supersonic fighter combining low cost, ease of maintenance and great versatility. Northrop delivers the first fighter to the U.S. Air Force in 1964. The company develops several versions of the plane, which will be used by militaries in more than 30 countries
1959	To reflect the changing character of its business, Northrop Aircraft Incorporated changes its name to Northrop Corporation
1960	The SM-62 Snark, the first online intercontinental guided missile, enters service
1961	The T-38 supersonic trainer enters service. It will be used to train more than 68,000 U.S. Air Force pilots and thousands of foreign pilots
1978	Northrop delivers the first F/A-18 Hornet shipset
1982	First flight of the F-20 Tigershark, an advanced version of the F-5; this aircraft could be airborne 60 seconds after an alert, the fastest scramble time of any fighter in the world
1989	First flight of the B-2 stealth bomber, a descendent of Jack Northrop's flying wing design
1990	First flight of the YF-23, another aircraft with stealth characteristics that is unofficially known as Black Widow II
1991	The company receives the Robert J. Collier Trophy (with the Industry Team and the United States Air Force) for the design, development, production, and flight testing of the B-2 aircraft. The Collier Award is the most prestigious aviation award, annually given for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics

Grumman Corporation

A premier military aircraft systems integrator and builder of the Lunar Module that first delivered men to the surface of the moon

Year	Event
1930	Leroy Grumman, Jake Swirbul, Bill Schwendler, E. Clint Towl and Ed Poor start a new enterprise, Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Company, in an abandoned auto garage
1931	The XFF-1 is the first Navy fighter with retractable landing gear (which Grumman designed) and fully enclosed cockpit
1936	Grumman expands its operations to Bethpage, N.Y.
1940	First flight of the Grumman Wildcat incorporating the sto-wing design
1943	Grumman becomes the first aircraft company to receive the Navy "E" flag for production efficiency
1944	Grumman introduces the F6F Hellcat; Hellcat pilots account for 55 percent of all enemy aircraft destroyed by the Navy and Marines in World War II
1947	The Grumman F9F Panther jet prototype makes its first flight
1948	Leroy Grumman receives the Presidential Medal of Merit for wartime production
1952	First flight of the Jaguar, the first variable sweep-wing fighter
1960	The A6 Intruder attack aircraft prototype makes its first flight
1960	E-2A Hawkeye's first flight; this aircraft becomes the U.S. Navy's only airborne early warning and control platform
1963	First flight of the EA-6 Intruder, a naval attack aircraft operating from the carrier fleet
1967	The Vietnam War sees the A-6 Intruder, the world's only all-weather attack bomber used by Navy and Marine Corps squadrons. In the last days of the war, the F-14, in its first deployment with USS Enterprise, flies top cover during the evacuation of Saigon
1969	The Apollo Lunar Module carries man to the surface of the moon
1969	The EA-6B Prowler makes its first flight
1977	First flight of the EF111-A, designed to detect, sort, identify and nullify different enemy radars.
1988	Joint STARS prototype makes its first flight
1994	Acquired by Northrop Corporation; today it is part of the Integrated Systems and Information Technology sectors

Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical

A world leader in the design, development and manufacture of unmanned airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, deception and target systems

Year	Event
1922	T. Claude Ryan founds the Ryan Flying Company
1925	The company is incorporated as Ryan Airlines with partner B. F. Mahoney
1926	T. Claude Ryan establishes a separate Ryan Aeronautical Company
1927	A group of St. Louis investors asks Ryan if he can build a plane for a nonstop transatlantic trip within 60 days. He accepts the challenge and produces the Spirit of St. Louis, which Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic
1928	Siemens, which wishes to establish its own distributorship in the United States, buys out Ryan for $75,000
1931	With the funds received from the Siemens purchase, Ryan starts the Ryan School of Aeronautics; the school will train thousands of World War II Army pilots, very likely becoming the largest contract flying school in the nation
1934	Ryan Aeronautical Company is formed; the Ryan School of Aeronautics eventually becomes a subsidiary
1934	First flight of the Ryan ST, the first design by the new company
1940	The experimental YO-51 Dragonfly observation craft pioneers short-takeoff-and-landing techniques
1940s	The company wins important experimental aircraft contracts and is one of the early leaders in the emerging missile and unpiloted-aircraft fields. During this period, Ryan also pioneers Doppler systems and lunar landing radar
1948	Ryan wins a competition for a new jet-powered Air Force target, originally known as the Q-2. This target becomes know as the “Firebee”
1956	The Air Force sponsors the Ryan X-13 Vertijet vertical-takeoff-and-landing high-performance combat aircraft
1959	The Q-2 Firebee is upgraded to its definitive airframe configuration and is given the designation of BQM-34
1962	The Cuban missile crisis results in a program to equip the Ryan BQM-34 with a camera after the loss of a U-2 aircraft over Cuba
1965-1975	During the Vietnam conflict, more than 1,000 Ryan “Lightning Bug” Remotely Piloted Vehicles fly 3,435 combat missions
1968	Ryan is acquired by Teledyne Incorporated
1973	Ryan develops the AQM-98A Compass Cope R High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This vehicle sets a world jet UAV record by flying 28 hours 11 minutes 12 seconds, a record that eventually is broken by the company's RQ-4A Global Hawk
1996	Allegheny merges with Teledyne and Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical becomes an operating division of Allegheny-Teledyne Incorporated
1998	First flight of the RQ-4A Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system designed to provide military field commanders with high-resolution, near real-time imagery of large geographic areas
1999	Acquired by Northrop Grumman; today it is part of the Integrated Systems sector