• Air Warfare

  Australia selects SUAS+ while TUAV contenders prepare bids

  7th May 2020

  The Australian Army has two important UAV projects under way at present. The Small UAS ‘Plus’ (SUAS+) project has recently selected a winning platform, while …

• Digital Battlespace

  More Japanese Hawkeyes arrive amid AEW restructure

  15th April 2020

  The third and fourth E-2D Advanced Hawkeye AEW aircraft for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) arrived last month. The pair of Northrop Grumman aircraft (bearing …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ROKAF receives second Global Hawk

  23rd April 2020

  The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) is now in receipt of half its Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Block 30 fleet after a second Global Hawk …

• Air Warfare

  USN orders two E-2D AHE aircraft and extended services

  2nd April 2020

  Northrop Grumman has secured a fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract modification worth $404 million from the USN’s Naval Air Systems Command. The contract covers procurement of two new …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman works on MUOS for USN

  19th March 2020

  Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $48.2 million sole-source contract to provide the USN with systems and services that support interoperability from tactical-to-tactical satellite communications …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman expands logistical support for MQ-4C Triton

  13th March 2020

  Northrop Grumman has secured an $86.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification from the US Naval Air Systems Command. The deal, confirmed by the DoD on 12 …

• Digital Battlespace

  HAMMR time: Northrop demonstrates missile defence capability

  11th March 2020

  Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated its Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR) during a test at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. A HAMMR system was …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to develop PTS rapid prototype

  25th February 2020

  Northrop Grumman is to develop a Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) rapid prototype payload for the US Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The payload …

• Military Logistics

  Kratos to provide transporters for GBSD programme

  27th February 2020

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will support the US Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programme under a contract announced on 26 February. The …

• Defence Helicopter

  Longbow FCR support contract detailed

  19th February 2020

  Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have detailed a recent contract from the US Army to support the AH-64 Apache helicopter AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radar …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ​Northrop Grumman not pausing for thought on MQ-4C

  13th February 2020

  The US DoD's decision to pause production of the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAV is not one that concerns the platform’s manufacturer. A two-year …

• Defence Notes

  RAF warns of data loss dangers

  26th February 2020

  Senior leadership of the RAF have raised fears of data loss from accelerated data transfer techniques, but expect that key airborne C2 procurement decisions will …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AQS-24B​ components being manufactured in Australia

  6th February 2020

  Northrop Grumman has begun manufacture of AQS-24B towed minehunting system components in Australia, the company announced on 6 February. Manufacture is being carried out with …

• Digital Battlespace

  USMC orders G/ATOR systems

  7th February 2020

  Northrop Grumman will supply two additional AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) systems to the US Marine Corps under an order announced on 5 February. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman sonar to be tested on Iver4 UUV

  4th February 2020

  A Northrop Grumman synthetic aperture sonar is to be integrated onto L3Harris Technologies’ Iver4 Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) for testing, the company announced on 3 …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk [Japan]

  Background Selection and contract award In 2015, Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton (1-4) [Australia]

  Background Three Contracted Units In June 2018, the Government provided Second Pass (Tranche 1) Approval to procure the first of six air vehicles, supporting systems and ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton (5-6) [Australia]

  Background Four Contracted Units In the summer of 2020, Northrop Grumman announced that the Australian Government provided $333 million for three MQ-4C Tritons and associated GCS. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Marine Unmanned Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) (Contracted) [USMC]

  Background MUX umbrella Since 2016, the USMC has sought to acquire a UAV that can be deployed from a vessel, used for various missions, and ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Long-Range Drones [Norway]

  Background Andøya Ambition On 3 April 2023, the Norwegian MoD released a statement confirming its plans for Andøya, the northernmost island in its Vesterålen archipelago. In addition to ...

• Military UAS - small

  AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY) [US]

  Background Aims & Timeline As stated by DARPA, the ANCILLARY programme aims to develop and fly an X-plane that will provide a “leap-ahead” in long-endurance, VTOL-capable ...

• ISR/special mission

  E-6 TACAMO Recapitalisation Programme (E-130J) [USN]

  Programme Background The E-6 Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) Recapitalisation Programme (E-XX) provides for air vehicle replacement and mission systems modernization to augment and eventually ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton [NATO]

  Background NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum During the July 2026 NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, Türkiye, NATO announced that Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Marine Unmanned Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) (Uncontracted) [USMC]

  Background MUX umbrella Since 2016, the USMC has sought to acquire a UAV that can be deployed from a vessel, used for various missions, and ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) [NATO]

  Background Purchase While NATO doesn’t have its own forces and depends on its allies, the alliance does have some of its own assets and equipment. In ...

• Bomber

  B-21 Raider [USA]

  Programme Background Development The US DoD is developing a new long-range bomber called the B-21 Raider, previously known as LRS-B. At least 100 units are ...

• Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  RangeHawk (RQ-4 Global Hawk) [US]

  Background Contract award Northrop Grumman announced in May 2026 that it had secured a $325.5 million contract from the US Army to develop the RangeHawk ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-25 Stingray (16-76) [USN]

  Background Initial requirements The programme looked different when it began. In 2013, the USN awarded four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) (Increment 2) [USAF]

  Background Increment 1 In January 2024, during the first increment of the USAF’s CCA effort, the USAF awarded contracts to Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics (GA-ASI), ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  ANCILLARY

  Northrop Grumman has developed a demonstrator tail-sitter UAV for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ANCILLARY programme. Northrop states its design is a cost-efficient, multiple-mission capable vehicle built ...

• Loitering munitions

  Jackal

  The Jackal is a turbojet loitering munition designed by Northrop Grumman in partnership with AeroVironment.  It features an open architecture that provides the capability to support ...

• Military - UUVs

  Manta Ray

  Manta Ray is an uncrewed underwater vessel (UUV) developed by Northrop Grumman.

• Major networking projects

  IBCS

  The Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) is a C2 system designed to integrate current and future sensors. The system also improves ...

• ISR/special mission

  Firebird

  Manufactured by Northrop Grumman, the Firebird is a unique platform that features different cockpit configurations. This feature allows the Firebird to be configured as either an uncrewed ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  H-1 Family of Avionics

  Northrop Grumman produces a family of avionics for Bell H-1-series helicopters.

• Military UAS - MALE

  YFQ-48A Talon Blue

  The YFQ-48A Talon Blue is a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) from Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites. Unveiled in December 2025, the system is reportedly lighter ...

• Air-to-surface missiles

  Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW)

  The Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) is an air-to-ground weapon that will provide strike capability to defeat rapidly relocatable targets as part of an enemy’s anti-access/area denial ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Model 437

  Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, unveiled the Model 437 in September 2021. The conceptual UAS is derived from a Model 401, or Son of Ares. It ...

• Air: aerial targets

  BQM-74F

  Building on the BQM-74E, the BQM-74F aerial target was developed by Northrop Grumman under a USN contract. Introduced in 2005, it has a new airframe ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-80

  The AN/APG-80 is an X-band active electronically scanned array radar system with approximately 1,000 transmit/receive modules, designed for continuous search and multi-target tracking capabilities in ...

• Guided munitions

  Viper Strike

  The GBU-44/B Viper Strike is an air-launched precision-guided munition (PGM) equipped with a relatively small-shaped charge warhead. It has been optimised for employment in urban ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  X-47B UCAS

  The X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft, which was developed as part of the USN's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration project. The aircraft ...

• Bomber

  B-21 Raider

  The B-21 Raider is a strategic stealth bomber aircraft being developed by Northrop Grumman to succeed the B-1 and B-2 fleets in the USAF service. ...

• Cannons

  30/40mm Mk44 Bushmaster

  The 30mm/40mm Mk44 Bushmaster automatic cannon is a next-generation chain gun weapon in widespread use. The weapon has been designed for system simplicity, external power, ...