Part 1 of a series

The Big business watchdog publication "Corporate Crime Reporter" rated Northrop Grumman (NG) one of the top corporate criminals of the 1990s. While local North Florida politicians claim they are tough on crime, don't expect them to come and arrest NG or jail its managers or officers. The result of over one dozen major mergers, NG is St. Johns County's largest private sector employer, with a payroll that is more than 1/100 of the county's adult population.

NG major environmental polluter and government contract fraud artist
At a 2003 press event, NG managers praised the St. Augustine "factory of the future," which is capable of manufacturing all products needed by its "military customers." NG makes deadly products, empowers spies, helps elect politicians and now even helps them with technologies to count your votes. NG is the world's second- largest arms merchant, ahead of Boeing and behind Lockheed Martin (all three are products of mergers).

NG's St. Augustine plant has 1250 non-union employees working on naval electronic warfare systems, including Prowler Attack airplanes and advanced E-2D Hawkeye airplanes (used to target weapons and gather intelligence, which will protect the U.S. Navy from any cruise missiles launched in its direction). Both airplanes are flown from aircraft carriers.

Intense Interest in Voting Technology
In 2002, NG bought an electronics firm involved in election voting technology and also announced that it had bought a license from "iPaper" for election systems worldwide.. President Bush reportedly signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) at the behest of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, both global arms merchants with an intense interest in voting technology. Mark Lewelllen-Biddle wrote for "In These Times" about how "troubling" it is that arms merchants are "mucking about in the American electoral system."

What else is NG "mucking about in?" NG and predecessor firms have a history of fraud, bribery, illegal campaign contributions, union busting and revolving door relationships.

Northrop Grumman Goes to War:
Profitable Global Business
After 9/11, weapons contractors cashed in with new government contracts. Money was no object. In July 2004, NG reported 44% higher profits, which it states was the result of lower taxes and higher profit margins from selling weapons, electronics and information technologies, mainly to governments -- including the U.S. Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and Labor, and even the U.S. Postal Service (which it assists with anthrax detection). NG's wealth and power are fueled by campaign cash and government spending.

If past is prologue, NG's Orwellian motto, "Defining the Future,"has an ominous ring to it. War remains a very profitable business, with the government encouraging arms merchants to gobble up their competitors, making them more powerful than ever. In 1994, Northrop acquired Grumman. Northrop Grumman has since devoured some 14 former competitors, forming a unique firm, combining both electronics and metal-bending for shipbuilding and airplane manufacture.

NG busily produces products that kill, with 125,000 employees in 50 states and 20 countries, selling its wares worldwide. Northrop Grumman is not quite a household name like Wal-Mart or General Electric, but Americans pay it billions annually. While it also sells TRW credit reports and makes Sperry navigational systems used on ships, almost all of NG's other products are war-related or sold to governments.

"If you need a nuclear submarine, you've only got two [companies] left to buy it from," according to Steven Schooner, a George Washington University associate professor and former official in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. As Project on Government Oversight (POGO) staffer Christopher H. Schmitt wrote in 2002, corporate mergers mean that governments are less likely to use "suspension and debarment" to punish wrongdoers by denying their contracts. ...