Northrop Grumman laying off 120 workers
Published 5:00 am Saturday, April 23, 2022
- The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System is a joint Air Force - Army program. The Joint STARS uses a multi-mode side looking radar to detect, track, and classify moving ground vehicles in all conditions deep behind enemy lines. (US Air Force - usaf.mil)
Northrop Grumman is laying off 120 workers in Lake Charles, the company confirms.
Northrop Grumman spokesman Jared Krull said the company notified the employees Tuesday that May 5 will be their last day.
The layoffs are a result of the U.S. Air Force’s decision to retire the Joint STARS fleet, he said.
”That was a pretty big chunk of the work we did here,” Krull said.
Joint STARS aircraft are used by the military in surveillance of moving targets on the ground, but the fleet is expected to be retired in the mid 2020’s and will not be replaced, according to Military.com. The military is working to move to new surveillance systems.
The fleet will be in service through 2024, Krull said.
When asked what the retirement of the Joint STARS fleet means for the company’s future, Krull said that while “It’s never a good thing to lose people because of lost business or work,” Northrop Grumman still has a lot of long-term contracts.
Included in those is a new contract to work on the Navy E-6B Mercury program.
Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman in Lake Charles currently has 524 employees, Krull said.
Some of the affected employees have been placed into new positions or moved, if possible, he said. The company held an internal job fair where employees were able to interview for open positions at other Northrop Grumman facilities that did not have to make reductions.
