Northrop Grumman has appointed Christine Zeitz as General Manager - Asia Pacific, effective Monday July 20, 2020. The new role will enable greater focus and alignment across the region, and will see local chief executives in Australia (Chris Deeble), Japan (Om Prakash) and South Korea (Dong Ha) as members of Zeitz’s integrated team.
“In my role as General Manager Asia Pacific, I will be responsible for leading and managing Northrop Grumman’s business in the Asia-Pacific region,” Zeitz explained to ADM. “I will be responsible for the company’s growth and performance in Australia, Japan and South Korea.
“Northrop Grumman views business in the Asia Pacific region as very strategic, so the company is investing in this region. It also aligns really nicely with the recent release of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update for Australia and the ongoing need for strong ties with our regional allies.”
Northrop Grumman Australia has grown in leaps and bounds since the company established a local footprint. With interests in a range of domains, the company is building on its aircraft sustainment business base and growing its business in integrated air and missile defence, autonomous systems (Triton), tactical datalinks, joint C2, satellite communications, cyber, ISR systems, and beyond.
“My role and Christine’s are very complementary,” Northrop Grumman Australia Chief Executive Chris Deeble said to ADM. “As the chief executive, my priority is to look to the future for the company and Northrop Grumman Australia specifically with respect to building strong customer relationships and working with the Department of Defence and other government agencies. I’ll be looking at those new growth opportunities, nurturing them in the early days and transitioning them to Christine and her team to develop and mature them into new programs. I see this as a seamless partnership and already we are aligned in the path forward.”
Deeble added, “I am very excited to be partnering with someone as experienced and capable as Christine. I see this as the next critical step in establishing Northrop Grumman as a valued strategic partner for our Australian customers and industry partners.”
Regionally there are a number of Northrop Grumman capabilities that the three nations have in common. Capabilities like the Joint Strike Fighter will be operated and supported by all three countries and synergies could be achieved for regional support of the Global Hawk and Triton capabilities. Both South Korea and Australia also operate a variant of the Wedgetail AEW&C and the future development of that capability will likely have some commonality. Deeble also noted that the regional geostrategic environment may provide additional opportunities “to work closely on things like integrated air and missile defence in the longer term”.
“Our goal is to provide a single, united face to our customers, Zeitz said. “We will have a very, very razor sharp ability to reach back to the whole of the global capabilities of Northrop Grumman.”
Decisions relating to Australian bid/no bid positions will be made by the Australian executive team, which includes both Zeitz and Deeble. Both are keen to emphasise that the company will continue to expand its relationships with the Australian supply chain, including small to medium businesses; supporting strong and viable sovereign capabilities is seen as a critical enabler of Northrop Grumman Australia’s business.
“Northrop has been a member of the global supply chain program for some time and it’s got some runs on the board,” Zeitz said. “We’re looking at growing that even further on a number of local and international programs and leveraging Australian Industry capability to the maximum extent.”