Chief Executive Officer Kathy Warden highlighted the project during Northrop Grumman’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, placing it among the international opportunities emerging as allied governments increase defense investment. “And in Australia, we were selected to establish an in-country solid rocket motor manufacturing facility,” Warden said.
Warden described the Australian selection alongside other developments that Northrop Grumman sees as evidence of stronger international demand for systems that are already mature enough to move into production. “These announcements from the second quarter underscore the breadth of international demand for our production-ready systems,” she said.
The Commonwealth selected Northrop Grumman for a formal engagement process aimed at establishing sovereign solid rocket motor manufacturing capability in Australia, according to a company announcement published in early May. The process is intended to define potential requirements and production arrangements, with Australian suppliers expected to be integrated into the future manufacturing line.
The project is designed to give Australia access to Northrop Grumman’s propulsion technology while building an industrial base capable of supporting critical defense requirements at home. Northrop Grumman said the capability would contribute to Australia’s long-range strike capacity and provide greater industrial depth and resilience for such systems.
“Northrop Grumman’s world-leading propulsion technology will be critical to rapidly establishing solid rocket motor production in Australia, and partnering with Australian component suppliers will build a sovereign manufacturing base of a critical defence capability,” said Rob Denney, country executive for Northrop Grumman Australia. The company already has an Australian supplier network that it expects to draw into the program.
Australia’s government has framed the investment as part of a wider effort to strengthen national self-reliance while expanding the domestic defense industry. “The Albanese Government’s investment in rocket motor manufacturing will strengthen Australia’s self-reliance, while supporting our industrial base and creating jobs for locals,” Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
The Australian initiative also fits Northrop Grumman’s broader push to invest in missile-production capacity before all of the anticipated demand has been converted into final contracts. Warden told investors that investments in manufacturing capacity had left the company better positioned to pursue work that it might otherwise have been unable to deliver.
“We also have been investing in capacity, and that has positioned us to win work that we otherwise wouldn’t have been in a position to deliver upon,” Warden said. She cited the company’s munitions portfolio as evidence that having manufacturing infrastructure available in advance can allow production and revenue to begin sooner.
Northrop Grumman said it has invested $2 billion over the past several years in munitions-related technology, facility modernization and capacity expansion for advanced weapons and solid rocket motors. The company brings more than seven decades of propulsion experience to the Australian effort and says it has delivered 1.3 million solid rocket motors.
That production base supports long-range strike systems and other defense platforms, while Northrop Grumman’s propulsion products have also been used in major space programs. The company cited the boosters used for NASA’s Artemis mission as one example of the breadth of its solid rocket motor portfolio.
Northrop Grumman is expanding its propulsion business in the United States at the same time, including through qualification as a solid rocket motor supplier for PAC-3. Warden said the company had already brought additional capacity online and was positioned to qualify as a rocket motor provider for new programs.
The company has 10 multi-year missile acceleration agreements in work across its portfolio, representing as much as $10 billion in potential sales over seven years. Warden said the agreements provide a clearer demand signal to industry while supporting investment and capacity decisions needed to meet higher production requirements.
The Australian project therefore comes as solid rocket motor capacity becomes an increasingly important part of Northrop Grumman’s wider munitions strategy. Rather than relying solely on U.S.-based production and exports, the proposed Australian manufacturing base would bring propulsion capability closer to an allied customer while creating a local supplier network around the technology.
International business is becoming a larger part of Northrop Grumman’s growth plans more broadly, with Warden saying new overseas opportunities support the company’s goal of doubling annual international sales to $10 billion by 2031. The Australian solid rocket motor initiative gives that strategy a distinctly industrial dimension, tying future growth to sovereign production capacity as well as the sale of finished defense systems.
