Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman's chief executive, will step down Jan. 1, the company announced today.
Kathy Warden, who was named Northrop's president and chief operating officer earlier this year, will take over as CEO and president on Jan. 1, the company added. She has immediately been added to the company's board.
Bush will remain chairman of the board through July 2019.
He is one of the longest-serving chief executives in the defense industry and has headed Northrop since Jan. 1, 2010. Bush had previously served as president and COO, chief financial officer and president of the company's space technology sector.
During his tenure as CEO, the company relocated its headquarters from California to the Washington, DC, area, divested TASC and its shipbuilding business and, most recently, acquired Orbital ATK.
Warden, who joined the company in 2008, has also held multiple positions, including vice president and general manager of Northrop's cybersecurity business, president of its former information systems unit and president of its mission systems sector.