Northrop Grumman officials on Tuesday said the company has begun assembling the first production elements—center and aft fuselage—for the Navy’s EA-18G Growler. The Growler is slated to replace the EA-6B Prowler, but some only see it as an interim solution and believe the F-35 would make a better dedicated next generation electronic attack aircraft. Northrop says it expects to deliver the first production center and aft fuselage shipset to prime contractor Boeing by April 2007. Northrop already has delivered shipsets for two flight test aircraft for tests later this summer.
The White House announced its United States Space Priorities Framework in a document released concurrently with Vice President Kamala Harris' first National Space Council meeting. Listed among five U.S. priorities is to “defend its national security interests from the growing scope and scale of space and counterspace threats.”