Northrop Bids for British Spy Plane Deal

Northrop Grumman Corp., which makes Global Hawk drones for the Air Force, will probably learn by the end of the year whether it won a $1.47-billion British contract for spy planes.

Century City-based Northrop Grumman, the third-biggest defense contractor in the U.S., and a competing team led by Paris-based Thales, Europe’s second-biggest weapons maker, have submitted final bids.