Air Force Orders Review of Northrop Program

The Air Force said it ordered an independent review of Northrop Grumman Corp.’s $6.8-billion program to build a constellation of environmental satellites, after concluding that the program would be more than 15% over budget.

The Air Force said it notified Congress of the overrun in the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, as required by law, but said it was premature to discuss exact figures until the review was completed by the end of the year.

Also, Century City-based Northrop said it would vie with L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. for contracts valued at as much as $3.1 billion to provide translation services for the Army.