Supervisor Don Knabe, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, visited the Northrop Grumman F/A-18E/F Super Hornet assembly line in El Segundo this week to learn more about the positive impact the facility has on the regional economy.
Northrop Grumman is the principal subcontractor to The Boeing Company for the F/A-18E/F, the U.S. Navy’s frontline carrier-based strike fighter. The company produces the aft/center fuselage section and vertical tails and integrates all associated subsystems.
I was extremely impressed during this visit to see the obvious pride and dedication of Northrop Grumman’s people who work on the F/A-18E/F program, Knabe said. They should be commended for their contributions to delivering the Super Hornet to the men and women in our armed forces who count on it to keep them out of harm’s way.
Northrop Grumman has delivered more than 1,900 fuselage shipsets to Boeing since the original F/A-18 program began in the 1970s. The current F/A-18E/F program accounts for about 1,200 jobs in Los Angeles County and more than 10,000 jobs in California with over 700 supplier companies. The Super Hornet industry team includes Boeing, Northrop Grumman, GE Aircraft Engines, the Raytheon Company and more than 1,900 suppliers in the United States and Canada.
The F/A-18E/F entered service with the U.S. Navy in 2001. The Navy is expected to acquire a minimum of 506 Super Hornets and 88 EA-18G Growlers, which along with a previous order of 24 aircraft for Australia, will keep Northrop Grumman’s assembly line open for many years.