Defense contractor to bring 4,200 jobs to Georgia

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman will bring 4,200 new jobs to Georgia within five years as part of a $20 billion to $50 billion contract with the U.S. Air Force to provide aerial refueling planes, a top official with the company said Thursday.

The jobs will come from the company's work to build KC-45 Tanker planes as part of the modernization of the Air Force's aerial refueling fleet, said Philip Teel, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems Sector. The Airbus planes will be constructed and converted to refueling planes in Mobile, Ala., but much of the work will be done in Georgia, said Teel, who spoke to the Atlanta Press Club.

"That program will be the cornerstone for a very, very significant aerospace corridor in the Southeast," Teel said. "It's the linchpin for that aerospace corridor."

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Teel said that corridor would include Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

The program will "triple our footprint" in Georgia, Teel said, and the aerospace corridor will "grow around" the tanker project.

He was not able to provide details as to where the jobs would be located or what they would involve.

Teel also announced that, on Oct. 7, Northrop Grumman will bring to Atlanta its zero gravity "Weightless Flight of Discovery," which are aimed at helping teachers get their students excited about math, science and engineering. During these flights, teachers float in zero gravity conditions, then share the experience with their students.

In addition to its defense work, Northrop is also a major information systems provider to the U.S. government. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of its largest clients.

Northrop Grumman is one of four companies bidding to overhaul Georgia's technology systems, a $1.4 billion contract. The others are IBM Corp., AT&T Inc., and Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS). Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that on April 11.