Northrop Corporation Wins Military Contract to Expand Norwood Plant-August 30, 1985

The Precision Products Division of the Northrop Corp. in Norwood has secured a significant $1.9 million federal military contract that is expected to generate up to 100 new jobs.

Announced by company spokesman Frank Daly of Duxbury, the contract tasks the Norwood facility with designing and building 20 advanced guidance systems for military aircraft.

The win marks a historic milestone for the local plant. According to Daly, this contract provides the division with its first opportunity to design and manufacture an entire guidance system from scratch rather than merely building individual components. “It’s indicative of a new direction for us,” Daly noted.

Advanced Technology and Multi-Service Applications

Unlike traditional gyroscope-based equipment, the newly designed guidance system relies on advanced computing technology to determine aircraft height and location. The systems are slated for deployment across multiple branches of the United States Armed Forces—including the Navy, Army, and Air Force—for use in diverse aircraft such as the F-14 fighter jet, experimental vertical takeoff aircraft, and various military helicopters. Additionally, the Norwood facility is pioneering the development of next-generation laser gyroscopes that utilize light beams instead of traditional spinning mechanical wheels.

Rapid Workforce Expansion and Facility Growth

The new defense contract accelerates an already booming period of local hiring. Having added 200 workers since April, total employment across Northrop’s six Norwood buildings has climbed to 1,700 personnel. With hiring slated to begin immediately for engineers followed by production staff, Daly projected that overall plant employment would comfortably surpass 2,000 workers by 1987, when full-scale production on the contract is scheduled to commence.

To accommodate this aggressive growth, Northrop added a seventh local facility in July by leasing 79,000 square feet of space—with an option for an additional 100,000 square feet—at Brookside Park on Route 1 near the Walpole town line. Prior to this expansion, the division operated four facilities off Morse Street and a gyroscope plant on Washington Street situated in the former Norwood Press bindery.

The local expansion mirrors broader corporate success. In 1984, parent company Northrop Corp. recorded net earnings of $167 million on total sales of $3.69 billion, driven by record sales of $1.3 billion in guidance, navigation, and military electronic systems. Daly attributed this soaring demand to the military’s growing emphasis on retrofitting existing aircraft and vehicles with advanced navigational technology.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger