WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp (N:NOC) on Wednesday named the head of its electronic systems sector as chief operating officer and said it would streamline its business sectors from four to three to better align with the U.S. Defense Department's changing needs.
Northrop, one of the top five U.S. weapons makers, said Gloria Flach would fill the newly created COO position, effective Jan. 1.
The company said it would merge elements of its current Electronic Systems and Information Systems sectors to create a new Mission Systems business focused on developing new capabilities for military and intelligence customers.
That sector will be headed by Kathy Warden, now corporate vice president and president of Information Systems, Northrop said.
The services portfolio in the Information Systems sector will combine with Technical Services to form a new Technology Services sector that will be headed by Chris Jones, who is now corporate vice president and president of Technical Services.
Northrop said military and civil space hardware business, which is now part of Electronic Systems, will move to the Aerospace Systems sector, while the electronic attack business now in Aerospace will move to the new Mission Systems sector. Tom Vice will continue to lead the Aerospace Systems sector.
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said Northrop was following the lead of other weapons makers that have also changed their business structure to reflect the Pentagon's increased focus on integrated solutions that meld cyber, electronic warfare and space.
"The Pentagon does not want a series of stovepiped missions. It wants integrated solutions," he said.
Thompson said Flach had long been seen as the leading internal candidate to replace Chief Executive Wes Bush, who was relatively young and could move to other jobs, perhaps outside the defense sector.
"He's made huge strides in terms of improving the company's stock performance," he said.
Northrop last had a COO in 2009 when Bush served in the role before being named to succeed then-CEO Ron Sugar.