The Navy has exercised a $312,338,052 firm-fixed-price option that will, for the first time, carry its most advanced shipboard jammer onto an aircraft carrier. According to the Defense Department's June 29, 2026 contracts announcement, Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. of Linthicum Heights, Maryland, received the modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-5519 to produce Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 Hemisphere and Quadrant systems. The full $312,338,052 in fiscal 2026 shipbuilding and construction (Navy) funds was obligated at the time of award, and Northrop Grumman says the modification covers the first SEWIP Block 3 shipset destined for an aircraft carrier.
Background
SEWIP is the Navy's incremental program to keep surface-ship electronic warfare ahead of a fast-evolving anti-ship missile threat. Earlier blocks improved the AN/SLQ-32 receiver and added electronic-support upgrades; Block 3 adds the piece that matters most in a saturation missile raid — active electronic attack. Rather than shooting an interceptor at every incoming weapon, an active electronic-attack system radiates tailored jamming that breaks the lock of a missile's radar seeker, causing the weapon to miss without expending a round of ordnance. That "soft-kill" approach conserves a ship's finite magazine of interceptors for the threats that jamming cannot defeat, a trade that grows more valuable as adversary missile inventories expand and unit costs on the defensive side climb.
The fiscal 2026 modification funds both the Hemisphere and Quadrant variants of the system. Until now, SEWIP Block 3 fielding had centered on destroyers — Northrop Grumman notes the program's first system was installed aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG-91) in 2023. The company says this option includes the first shipset bound for an aircraft carrier, the highest-value surface asset in the fleet and the one whose loss would be most consequential in a contested environment. Northrop Grumman also says the modification adds up to nine more systems, bringing it to as many as 24 SEWIP Block 3 systems on contract.
Key Details
The modification is a firm-fixed-price action, meaning Northrop Grumman absorbs cost-overrun risk against a set price rather than billing the government for actuals. The full $312,338,052 was obligated at award from fiscal 2026 shipbuilding funds, and none of it will expire at the end of the current fiscal year — a signal that the Navy intends to execute the production run without the funding lapses that can stall shipbuilding work.
Work is spread across 10 states. Baltimore, Maryland accounts for the largest share at 33 percent, followed by Tampa, Florida at 10 percent, with the remainder distributed among more than a dozen additional locations tied to Northrop Grumman's electronic-warfare supply base — including sites in Maryland, California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, and Ohio. The Navy expects the effort to be completed by August 2029. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, D.C. is the contracting activity. The award was made on June 24 and appeared on the department's daily contracts list on June 29.
Because the action is a modification to an existing contract vehicle rather than a new competition, it reflects the maturity of the SEWIP Block 3 program. The 2020-vintage base contract established Northrop Grumman as the production source, and the Navy is now buying additional systems by exercising priced options — a lower-friction path than opening a fresh procurement each year. Northrop Grumman confirmed the award in its own announcement, describing it as up to nine additional systems and framing the work as production of maritime electronic-attack hardware that protects surface ships from missiles.
The carrier shipset is the headline. Extending SEWIP Block 3 beyond destroyers for the first time means the Navy is building the industrial and integration groundwork to protect carriers with the same soft-kill jamming already fielded on destroyers. That is a substantive change in how the fleet plans to defend its most important ships, not merely a quantity buy of an existing configuration.
What It Means for Contractors
For the defense industrial base, the award reinforces several realities worth planning around. First, electronic warfare remains a growth line. The Navy is spending fiscal 2026 shipbuilding dollars — not just research money — on active electronic-attack production, which indicates the requirement has moved firmly from development into fielding. Firms in the RF, antenna, power-amplifier, digital-signal-processing, and precision-machining supply chains should expect sustained demand tied to SEWIP Block 3 quantities across both destroyer and now carrier fits.
Second, the geographic spread across 10 states illustrates how a single prime's production program pulls in subcontractors and suppliers nationwide. Companies positioned as second- and third-tier suppliers to Northrop Grumman's Linthicum and Baltimore operations, or to its Tampa work, have a direct line into this vehicle. Subcontracting on a firm-fixed-price program also carries specific risk-sharing implications: with the prime holding fixed-price exposure, suppliers should anticipate firm delivery and cost expectations flowed down through their own agreements.
Third, the use of a priced option on a 2020 contract is a reminder that incumbency on a multiyear production vehicle is where the durable revenue lives. The competition that mattered for SEWIP Block 3 happened years ago; the money now flows through option exercises. Contractors chasing similar programs should weigh the long tail of an early production win against the near-term value of a single competed award. Finally, the carrier milestone signals a platform expansion that typically precedes follow-on integration, installation, and lifecycle-support opportunities — the kind of sustainment work that outlasts the production run itself and often opens doors for firms that were not part of the original build.
