Northrop’s Unit in Anaheim to Merge With Hawthorne’s

Northrop Corp. merged its Anaheim plant with a division in Hawthorne on Tuesday, a move that will eliminate about 500 jobs within the next year, company officials said. Both plants will remain in operation.

“The exact means of the reduction, whether layoffs or attrition or some combination of those, is under review,” company spokeswoman Maria Oharenko said. “I have no idea whether Anaheim or Hawthorne will be most impacted.”

The company alerted employees in October that it was studying a possible merger, examining whether the electro-mechanical division in Anaheim and the electronics division in Hawthorne are compatible and can be combined to streamline operations and improve productivity.

The answer is obviously yes, for the aerospace giant reorganized its $1-billion electronics business Tuesday, “streamlining the management structure and providing for closer technical interchange between its electronics and aircraft activi ties,” officials said in a prepared statement.

The merged divisions will be based in Hawthorne and will operate under a relatively simple name for an aerospace unit: the Electronics Systems Division. The division will design and manufacture navigation and guidance systems and advanced sensors for aircraft, helicopters and missiles.

The Anaheim operation employs about 2,000 workers and manufactures electronic sensing and optical devices. The Hawthorne division employs nearly 3,000 people and specializes in navigation and guidance equipment.

The merger comes on the heels of a financial report released last week showing operating profits from the electronics division sharply down. Anaheim and Hawthorne are two of several units within the electronics division.

In 1988, operating profits from the electronics division dropped to $38.7 million, down sharply from the $70 million reported in 1987. Contract acquisitions also fell in 1988, dropping to $812.8 million from $1.1 billion in 1987.

Oharenko said the division’s operating profits fell dramatically because of money lost on contracts for “electronic countermeasures,” or radar jammers, designed by Northrop’s defense systems division in Chicago.

She said the reorganization was not caused by poor performance within the electronics division, a contract loss or any other customer action.

“Aircraft not only fly but they have complex electronics in them,” Oharenko said.

The reorganization follows a trend toward “continuing integration of electronics and aircraft systems within the defense industry.”