Northrop Grumman advances propulsion capacity with new facility in Elkton, Maryland

The new building is part of a broader $100 million investment at Northrop Grumman’s 550-acre Propulsion Systems & Controls site in Elkton. This development will increase the site’s SRM design and manufacturing capacity by 25% and support a staffing growth of more than 30%.

Northrop Grumman is already a leading provider of SRM production and is enhancing its infrastructure to meet growing demand from the U.S. Department of Defense. The new facility adds to the company’s existing SRM production network, with an overall capacity of around 30 million pounds of solid rocket propellant annually, expected to rise to nearly 50 million pounds by 2028.

The company’s SRM production rate of approximately 13,000 units in 2024 is projected to exceed 25,000 by 2029. “We’re delivering advanced propulsion and SRMs at scale, and Northrop Grumman has the capacity to do so today,” said Gordon LoPresti, senior director of propulsion systems and controls at Northrop Grumman.

“With engineering, development and production ramped up at the expanded campus, we’ll be able to scale operations to produce even more survivable, solid and air-breathing hypersonic propulsion solutions efficiently and affordably, at the pace the U.S. military needs them,” LoPresti added. The Elkton site serves as headquarters for the company’s propulsion systems and controls business, which has been a cornerstone of its propulsion heritage since 1948.

Construction of the Propulsion Innovation Center is being carried out by Whiting-Turner Construction Company. “Whiting-Turner along with our trade partners and suppliers have proudly partnered with Northrop Grumman Corporation helping them expand through new construction such as the Propulsion Innovation Center as well as modernizing and upgrading their existing infrastructure on the Elkton campus,” said Joshua George, Vice President at Whiting-Turner.

“We look forward to continuing this partnership through the completion of the Propulsion Innovation Center and into the future,” George stated. In recent years, Northrop Grumman has invested over $1 billion in advanced manufacturing facilities across the United States to support increased production of missile components and SRMs.

The company has tripled its tactical SRM capacity at its West Virginia facility and plans to double large SRM production in Utah within five years. Northrop Grumman’s extensive network includes nearly 100,000 employees and over 30 million square feet of manufacturing space, enabling rapid innovation and scaled production to meet national security demands.