Grumman was an American manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft, aircraft parts and equipment, data processing and preparation, search and navigation equipment, truck and bus bodies, and electrical equipment and supplies. The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation was founded on December 6, 1929 by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, and merged with Northrop Corporation in 1994 to form Northrop Grumman.
Leroy Grumman had previously worked for the Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation and, together with three other ex-Loening employees, started his own company in an old Cox-Klemin Aircraft Co. factory in Baldwin on Long Island, New York. The company registered as a business on December 6, 1929, and officially opened on January 2, 1930. Grumman designed the first practical floats with a retractable landing gear for the Navy, which launched the company into the aviation market. The first Grumman aircraft developed for the Navy was the Grumman FF-1, a biplane with retractable landing gear. This was followed by a number of other successful designs. During World War II, Grumman became known for its “Cats” (Navy fighter aircraft): the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, the Grumman F7F Tigercat and Grumman F8F Bearcat, and also for its torpedo bomber, the Grumman TBF Avenger.
Grumman’s first jet aircraft was the F9F Panther; it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar, and the F-11 Tiger in the 1950s. The company’s big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and E-2 Hawkeye and in the 1970s with the Grumman EA-6B Prowler and F-14 Tomcat. Grumman products were prominent in the Apollo program, notably the Lunar Module which landed men on the moon.
On April 4, 1994, Grumman merged with Northrop Corporation to form Northrop Grumman. Today, Northrop Grumman remains a major aerospace and defense technology company, with operations in aerospace, defense, electronics, information technology, and other areas.