US selects Northrop Grumman for homeland missile defence
A photo of a test of the nation's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, conducted in March 2019. (Photo: US Missile Defense Agency)
Northrop Grumman recruited to bolster US intermediate and intercontinental ballistic missile defence.
Northrop Grumman has been awarded an IDIQ contract, valued at around $3.29 billion, by the US Missile Defense Agency for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Weapon System (GWS) programme.
The GWS programme aims to continue the development of a defence system to protect against intermediate and intercontinental ballistic missile attacks.
Northrop Grumman will provide design, development, verification, deployment and sustainment support of new capabilities for GWS.
GWS will transform the current ground system component of the GMD system by utilising a DevSecOps approach to update and modernise legacy code, warfighter capabilities and incorporate the Next Generation Interceptor fleet into the overall GMD system.
The GMD is the current system for intercepting incoming missiles during the midcourse phase of ballistic trajectory, halfway between launch and impact.
Other improvements to the GMD system are also underway, in March 2021, the Missile Defense Agency awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the development of the Next Generation Interceptor, a new guided missile for the GMD.
More from Land Warfare
-
![Thales to modernise Netherlands TACTIS combined arms trainer]()
Thales to modernise Netherlands TACTIS combined arms trainer
Thales will modernise the Royal Netherlands Army’s TACTIS simulation system over eight years with enhanced synthetic environments, new simulators for the CV9035NL, Boxer and Leopard 2 tanks.
-
![Anduril Industries unveils improved electromagnetic warfare system]()
Anduril Industries unveils improved electromagnetic warfare system
Pulsar-L has already entered service and weighs about 12kg with range of 5km. It was only in May last year that the company disclosed that earlier versions were already in service.
-
![Romania approved for additional $280 million Patriot Air Defence System buy]()
Romania approved for additional $280 million Patriot Air Defence System buy
The possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) from the US will cover the system and any related equipment with Lockheed Martin and RTX as primary contractors.
-
![Polaris to unveil new MRZR Alpha base vehicle at Modern Day Marine]()
Polaris to unveil new MRZR Alpha base vehicle at Modern Day Marine
The new platform was designed to provide 1KW of exportable power as standard and has been developed in partnership with the US Marine Corps (USMC).
-
![British Army details Ajax plans]()
British Army details Ajax plans
Of the six variants in the Ajax programme – reconnaissance (Ajax), reconnaissance support (Ares), C2 (Athena), equipment repair (Apollo), equipment recovery (Atlas) and engineering reconnaissance (Argus) – the Ajax reconnaissance version is now entering service.
