Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden sees potential from President Trump's "Iron Dome for America" executive order to expand use cases for existing capabilities and those already in the developmental pipeline, she said today.
Northrop will need to work with the Trump administration to understand the requirements for the new effort, Warden said at Citi’s 2025 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference. Iron Dome for America -- set in motion in an executive order Jan. 27 -- is intended to provide a “next-generation missile-defense shield” to protect the homeland from a variety of missiles and aerial attacks.
“I think it will be growth of units on existing programs versus whole-cloth, new efforts that need to be started,” Warden said.
Some programs, like the Glide Phase Interceptor as well as pre-launch electronic attack capabilities, could be used in homeland defense if the funding is put forward to support it.
“It has to be more dollars because it’s a mission that has been unfunded or under-funded,” she said.
Warden also welcomed potential cost-saving efforts by the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the group within the Trump administration led by billionaire Elon Musk tasked with cutting back budgets.
“I think it’s appropriate to constantly attack bureaucracy and organizations and ask, ‘Does this still serve us well?’” she said.
Much of the cost savings could be found by looking at the processes for delivering products to warfighters, she said, rather than simply reducing overhead. Programs could be less costly if companies can get through the acquisition process more quickly and with less regulatory hoops to jump through.
“The challenge is that leaders that have oversight responsibility need to feel comfortable that indeed it is time to move away from some of that structure and process that was put in place and take a little risk,” she said. “And I’m hopeful that that is this time.”