Defense Systems drives most of Northrop Grumman's backlog growth this year

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has left the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) competition to replace the T-45 Goshawk, Breaking Defense reported Nov. 3. SNC told the outlet it could not responsibly bid under the current contract structure.¹

SNC could not responsibly bid the UJTS [Undergraduate Jet Training System] program under the current contract structure

Textron Aviation Defense, the only known major competitor to SNC, confirmed to Breaking Defense that the firm submitted its offering of the M-346N to the Navy.

Stavatti Aerospace said on Oct. 30 it submitted a bid on UJTS

Reported by Breaking Defense

Sources

• breakingdefense.com ↗

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Breaking Defense says SNC’s exit leaves the Navy with “one true competitor”: Textron Aviation Defense, which confirmed to the outlet that it submitted the M-346N. The outlet also reported that Stavatti Aerospace said on Oct. 30 that it submitted a bid.¹

SNC said it remains committed to naval jet training and would be ready to re-engage if the approach is revisited. Breaking Defense’s account does not identify the contract terms SNC objected to.¹

The competitive field had already narrowed: Lockheed Martin announced in April it would not submit the TF-50N with Korea Aerospace Industries, and Boeing announced its departure in June. In September, Breaking Defense reported that Northrop Grumman was dropping off SNC’s bid, which centered on a clean-sheet design called the Freedom.¹

The Navy kept its Oct. 30 proposal deadline, extended from June 30, the program office told the outlet. It now estimates an award between July and the end of September 2027, later than the June 2027 target in its September request for proposals. The service originally planned a March 2027 selection.¹

SAIC has hired Ken Crews, Northrop Grumman's chief financial officer until January, as its next CFO, the company said Tuesday, Oct. 13.^{1, 3} He joins on Friday, Oct. 30, as CFO-elect and takes the title on Monday, Dec. 7.^1–2 In connection with his hiring, Prabu Natarajan, SAIC's CFO since January 2021, becomes the permanent head of the Civilian Business Group, which he has led on an interim basis for several months.^{1–2, 5}

Kenneth CrewsCFO effective Dec. 7, 2026planned

he starts work Oct. 30, 2026 and serves as CFO-elect until then

Prabu NatarajanExecutive Vice President, Civilian Business Groupplanned

ceases to be CFO on Dec. 7, 2026

Enterprise Operationsoversight of Project ORBITplanned

Natarajan will continue his role

Crews most recently was Northrop Grumman's corporate VP and CFO

Natarajan continues as CFO during the transition

Source: SAIC Form 8-K and release, Oct. 13, 2026; Northrop Grumman Form 8-K, Nov. 6, 2025

Sources

• www.sec.gov ↗
• www.sec.gov ↗
• www.sec.gov ↗

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Crews arrives during a portfolio and strategy review that CEO Jim Reagan said in August includes M&A.⁹ At Northrop, he oversaw finance functions ranging from treasury and contracts and pricing to M&A and investor relations. Before becoming CFO there in October 2024, he was CFO for sectors including Space Systems and Mission Systems.¹ Reagan, a former Leidos CFO, became interim CEO in October 2025 and took the job permanently in February.⁶

Natarajan keeps a hand in the cost work. He remains executive vice president of enterprise operations and keeps oversight of Project ORBIT, which SAIC expects to yield about $150 million in annual run-rate savings by the end of a three-year implementation.^{2, 9}

SAIC consolidated its business groups into three as fiscal 2027 began, each led by an executive vice president reporting to the CEO.⁷ The Civilian group's previous head, Srinivas Attili, stepped down in May in connection with what SAIC called an internal reorganization.⁴ Since then, the Civilian group has won a five-year recompete valued at about $740 million including options, to operate and maintain Customs and Border Protection systems for the Department of Homeland Security.⁸