American aerospace engineer
Robert "Bob" Klein is an American aerospace engineer and Northrop Grumman executive. A Princeton aerospace engineering graduate with a master's from MIT, he joined Grumman in 1974 and served as chief engineer of the F-14 Tomcat program from 1990 to 1999, evolving the aircraft from an air-to-air interceptor into a precision-strike fighter. Earlier in his career he was the primary flight-control system lead for the X-29 forward-swept-wing demonstrator through flight test. Klein later held vice-president-of-engineering roles across Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems portfolio and leads the Manned Aircraft Design Center of Excellence in Melbourne, Florida, overseeing more than 2,600 engineers on programs including the E-2 Advanced Hawkeye, Joint STARS, and the Advanced Laser Mine Detection System.