• Digital Battlespace

  RAAF C-130J LAIRCM reaches FOC

  5th December 2019

  The Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF’s) C-130J Large Aircraft Infra-Red Counter-Measures has achieved Final Operational Capability, the Australian Department of Defence announced on 4 December. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to carry out HBTSS work

  4th December 2019

  Northrop Grumman has received a place on the Phase IIa Prototype Payload Design and Signal-chain Processing Demonstration of the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Hypersonic and …

• Digital Battlespace

  Saab receives G/ATOR component order

  10th December 2019

  Saab will supply components and subsystems for full rate production systems for the US Marine Corps Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) under an order announced …

• Defence Notes

  Northrop Grumman opens Poland office

  25th November 2019

  Northrop Grumman has opened a new facility in Warsaw, Poland, the company announced on 21 November. Poland became Northrop Grumman’s first international customer for the …

• Training

  Misawa AFB connects to DMON

  3rd December 2019

  The US Air Force’s Misawa Air Force (AFB) Base F-16C simulator has connected to Northrop Grumman’s Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON).DMON provides the virtual-constructive backbone …

• Digital Battlespace

  Maritime domain provides unique cyber security challenges

  17th December 2019

  Navies must contend with the same cyber threat as other military services. However, there are unique aspects to the shipboard environment, from the complex mix …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman seeks Australian industry partners

  20th November 2019

  Northrop Grumman is seeking Australian partners for its efforts to support the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) Project AIR 6500. AIR 6500 is the RAAF's …

• Digital Battlespace

  IBCS demonstrates non-US sensor system

  27th November 2019

  Northrop Grumman, MBDA and Saab have jointly demonstrated the ability to integrate the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family and Giraffe radar system family into …

• Land Warfare

  Australia requests JCREW equipment

  22nd November 2019

  Australia has requested Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) systems from the US government, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on 20 …

• Digital Battlespace

  Dubai Airshow 2019: E2-D set for new lease of life

  19th November 2019

  The US Navy’s E2-D Advanced Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft will first field an air-to-air refuelling capability in 2020, ahead of an anticipated number …

• Defence Helicopter

  Modernised Longbow FCR follow-on demo complete

  13th November 2019

  The US Army’s AH-64E Apache Follow-On Test and Evaluation II for the AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR) has been successfully completed.During the evaluation, the …

• Land Warfare

  DSEI Japan 2019: Mitsubishi pushes forward its MAV

  19th November 2019

  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries exhibited its Mitsubishi Armored Vehicle (MAV), which has been developed using its own funds, at DSEI Japan 2019. The MAV is based …

• Military Logistics

  USN orders E-2D aerial refuelling kits

  7th November 2019

  The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $32.5 million contract modification exercising an option for five aerial refuelling retrofit kits, installations and technical support …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman takes part in DARPA swarm test

  28th October 2019

  Northrop Grumman has detailed its participation in DARPA’s second unmanned vehicle (UxV) swarming field experiment. The experiment leveraged the command, control and collaboration capabilities of …

• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2019: Industry positions for future NGJ programme

  4th November 2019

  As the US Navy continues to develop its Next Generation Jammer- Mid Band (NGJ-MB) requirement with Raytheon, industry players within the Electronic Warfare (EW) sector …

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, ...