Northrop CEO says industry is seeking partnership with government on industrial base resiliency

By Marjorie Censer / February 10, 2021 at 4:02 PM

The chief executive of Northrop Grumman said this week the defense industry is working to provide recommendations to the new administration about how to improve the resiliency of the industrial base.

Speaking at a virtual event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kathy Warden said the ongoing global pandemic has spotlighted questions about supply chain resiliency.

"I know this will be a key issue for the Biden administration as the new leaders of the Department of Defense step in," she said.

Warden said it "really needs to be a government and industry partnership to shore up the broader ecosystem of the defense industrial base."

Asked whether there might be movement on this issue soon, Warden said: "We will see activity in the next few months."

"The Aerospace Industries Association, in particular, of which I happen to be chair this year, is taking this very issue under not only a set of recommendations that we can take forward to the administration, but also work across the industrial base that we can do together through the association," she added. "I'm very proud of the collaboration that's happened across the industry already."

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