Better Health for All

Northrop Grumman's operations at the Bethpage facility for over 60 years caused severe, widespread health damage by contaminating residential soil and groundwater with toxic chemicals

, polluting the sole drinking water source for a densely populated region with carcinogens . This led to illnesses like breast cancer and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among residents . The company demonstrated a catastrophic safety record by knowing about this contamination since the mid-1970s but keeping crucial information secret , making public statements that contradicted evidence , and failing to inform the public . It systematically concealed known health risks, allegedly never timely warning the community and continuously failing to remediate the contamination , even fighting against paying over $30 million in remediation costs . These actions resulted in severe negative health externalities. In contrast, Northrop Grumman implements leading data protection standards with a comprehensive approach, including a Corporate Privacy Office and self-certification under international data privacy frameworks . The company also offers excellent mental health programs for employees and their families, providing eight free counseling sessions per issue per year , speaker panels on teen mental health , and leadership commitment to combating stigma . KPIs for pharma patent flexibility, nutrition and food safety, addiction mitigation, and clinical trial ethics are not applicable.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates primarily within the aerospace and defense industry.

While Northrop Grumman engages in initiatives such as assisting veteran career transitions , collaborating with schools for talent development , creating jobs , and providing grants for tech training , these activities do not constitute the provision of financial services or products as defined by this ethical value's rubric.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

No specific, concrete data points were found in the provided articles to assess Northrop Grumman Corporation against the defined KPIs for Fair Pay & Worker Respect. Information regarding living wage coverage, CEO to median pay ratio, collective bargaining share, safety incident rate, pay equity ratio, worker engagement score, turnover rate, substantiated labor violation incidents in the past three years, insecure contract share, or health insurance coverage was not available in a scorable format. While some articles mention lawsuits alleging labor violations (e.g., in December 2024

and April 2023 ) and past penalties for employment offenses (since 2000 ), these are either allegations or fall outside the specified three-year timeframe for substantiated incidents, and do not provide the quantitative data required by the rubric's thresholds.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

No specific, concrete data points were provided in the articles for the quantitative metrics required by the rubric. While Northrop Grumman demonstrates a commitment to responsible mineral sourcing, particularly conflict minerals (3TG)

, and combating human trafficking , the evidence does not include percentages of spend covered by fair-trade certifications, audit frequencies, number of substantiated forced or child labor incidents, traceability coverage percentages, remediation speeds, general ethical clause coverage percentages, share of spend on high-risk materials, or supplier diversity spend. Therefore, all KPIs are omitted due to lack of specific, measurable evidence.

Honest & Fair Business

Northrop Grumman maintains a comprehensive whistleblower policy that includes a global 24/7 OpenLine reporting system, managed by a third party, allowing for anonymous reporting.

The company explicitly prohibits retaliation against individuals reporting concerns in good faith and commits to maintaining reporter confidentiality. Annual employee engagement surveys are conducted to assess employee confidence in reporting without fear of reprisal. The company also has a robust and comprehensive anti-corruption compliance program. This program is supported by management commitment, risk assessments, and includes policies and procedures that explicitly prohibit offering or accepting bribes and facilitating payments. Employees involved in international business are required to complete anti-corruption training, and the program is regularly audited by an internal audit organization. In the past three years (from February 2023 to February 2026), Northrop Grumman received a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Department of Justice in February 2023 regarding financial and cost accounting related to pension expense assumptions. Additionally, the Defense Contract Management Agency issued an interim, non-final determination of noncompliance with Cost Accounting Standards in February 2024. No ethics-related regulatory fines are reported within this three-year period.

Kind to Animals

Northrop Grumman operates in the aerospace and defense sector. The provided articles do not contain specific, quantitative data points relevant to any of the 'Kind to Animals' KPIs. There is no evidence regarding cruelty-free certifications, animal testing, humane certifications for animal operations, or ethical sourcing of animal-derived ingredients. While the company has a Technology for Conservation (T4C) program that monitors polar bear habitats in partnership with San Diego Zoo Global

, the articles do not provide measurable biodiversity impact metrics or the percentage of revenue invested in these initiatives, which are required for scoring the 'wildlife_conservation_impact' KPI. Similarly, the collaboration is for conservation, not specifically for 'animal-free testing and sourcing standards' as defined by the 'animal_free_rd_collaboration' KPI. Historical environmental contamination and a $35 million cleanup settlement are noted , but these do not provide current, measurable data points for the defined KPIs.

No War, No Weapons

Northrop Grumman is a global aerospace and defense technology company, with its core business focused on military and defense sectors. In FY 2024, expected annual sales were up to $41.4 billion.

, with segments like Aeronautics Systems generating $12.03 billion and Space Systems $11.73 billion. , indicating over 50% of revenue from direct arms/defense contracts. The company actively secures new defense contracts, including $1.4 billion for air and missile defense capabilities for the U.S. Army and Poland. , and is expanding its military business lines, with no evidence of divestment from defense-related assets. Northrop Grumman collaborates on classified U.S. spy satellite projects. , indicating opaque involvement in military surveillance. Historically, in 2008, the company paid a $15 million fine for 110 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including unauthorized transfers of guidance system source code to Russia. The company's investment is predominantly in military technology, with no evidence of investment in peace technology, and it cannot demonstrate zero exposure to controversial weapons, as its core business involves missile systems and advanced weapons.

Planet-Friendly Business

Northrop Grumman commits to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2035

. The company has reduced its carbon footprint by over 40% since 2010 , including an 11% reduction in GHG emissions compared to 2019 . By 2022, it sourced 10% of its electricity from renewables and aims to reach 50% by 2030 . This includes installing solar power systems at multiple sites and committing to sourcing 100% of its electricity in Virginia from a solar farm . The company also plans to reduce absolute water withdrawals by 10% and solid waste sent to landfill and incineration by 10% by 2030 , focusing on water stewardship in stressed regions . Additionally, it engages in Technology for Conservation projects to enhance environmental conservation programs .

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Northrop Grumman has established at least three formal partnerships with external organizations, including the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), and the New Mexico Humanities Council, to support Indigenous talent and preserve cultural heritage

, . The company has not reported any cultural appropriation incidents. Through its Cultural SITEs project, Northrop Grumman actively preserves cultural heritage sites, such as historic and Apache sites in New Mexico, using advanced imaging technologies , , and no incidents of cultural site disruption have been reported. The company also demonstrates proactive engagement through its Native American Caucus (NAC) and a Human Rights Policy that respects cultural values .

Safe & Smart Tech

Northrop Grumman developed the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system, a biometric database capable of storing information on over 500 million individuals.

Critics warn this surveillance technology enables public tracking without consent, raising concerns about racial profiling and misidentification risks. This indicates a severe lack of user control over personal data and a failure to integrate privacy principles during product development. The extensive data collection for this system suggests excessive data collection beyond business needs. Furthermore, the development of such a system undermines digital rights and civil liberties, and there is no evidence of effective remediation for the documented concerns about algorithmic bias and harm. While the company aligns its AI development with U.S. Department of Defense's ethical principles, has established a Chief Data Office to mitigate bias, and provides cybersecurity training to employees, these efforts are overshadowed by the concerns surrounding the HART system.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Northrop Grumman has a history of significant environmental violations related to waste. In 2003, the company settled with the EPA for $33,214 due to violations of federal hazardous waste laws, including unpermitted storage and improper handling.

More recently, the company incurred significant fines for waste disposal violations, totaling $12,000 in 2022, $32,000 in 2023, and $6,500 in 2024. Additionally, the company is involved in ongoing issues concerning hexavalent chromium contamination at Bethpage Community Park, where chemical drums were discovered, and "alarming" levels of the carcinogen were detected in soil samples in 2024. A lawsuit was filed in September 2023, and the company was accused of concealing the extent of contamination. Violation Tracker records show 5 hazardous waste violation records with penalties exceeding $2.6 million between 2002 and 2020, and 28 environment-related offenses with total penalties over $4.1 million since 2000. Regarding waste management, Northrop Grumman reported a company-wide waste diversion rate of 49% in 2024. The company has set a target to reduce solid waste sent to landfill and incineration by 10% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. It has implemented various waste reduction initiatives, such as installing compactors and balers, expanding composting programs, recycling solvents, treating wastewater with an evaporation system, reusing furniture, and collaborating with a supplier to increase product lifespan. The company also has comprehensive waste-related requirements for its suppliers, expecting them to conserve natural resources, reduce emissions, and minimize hazardous waste materials.