Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), a global defense and technology company, on Wednesday highlighted the reasons why the U.S. Air Force decided to award the company the contract to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers. The decision to award the contract to Northrop Grumman was announced on February 29. Boeing (BA) approached the Government Accountability Office to overturn the Air Force decision.Northrop Grumman said that the U.S. Air Force found Northrop Grumman KC-45 tanker superior to Boeing's KC-767 in four out of the five most important selection criteria.Compared to Boeing's KC-767, the KC-45 can launch with more fuel from the same length of runway, providing longer range, more time aloft, and the ability to refuel more aircraft per sortie, which according to Air Force is significant refueling advantages' over Boeing's KC-767. The KC-45 can take off from more airfields around the world than the KC-767 carrying a fuel load equal to or greater than Boeing's maximum. Greater airfield availability increases the Air Force's future basing and operational flexibility. The Los Angeles, California-based Northrop Grumman disclosed that the KC-45 Tanker aircraft will be assembled in Mobile, Alabama, and the KC-45 team will employ 48,000 American workers at 230 U.S. companies in 49 states.NOC is trading down $0.05 or 0.07% at $74.13 on a volume of 1.34 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.