Northrop Grumman Corp., the third largest U.S. defense contractor, has potentially set a precedent for other defense giants by spinning off its $6.7 billion ship unit as Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.
“This is one of the first big divestitures in a long time and it’s pretty dramatic because of that,” David Berteau, director of defense-industrial initiatives at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan study group.
