• Military Logistics

  Japan requests KC-46A FMS

  26th September 2016

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale (FMS) of KC-46A aerial refuelling aircraft and related equipment, training, and …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy gets AQS-24B upgrade kits

  23rd September 2016

  Northrop Grumman has made the delivery of the first of three lots of AQS-24B mine-hunting sonar upgrade kits to the US Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare …

• Digital Battlespace

  LAIRCM spotted on Australian C-130J

  22nd September 2016

  A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules airlifter on exercise was recently seen with a new directional infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) system installed. …

• Land Warfare

  Clock ticking for the Minuteman

  14th September 2016

  The US strategic nuclear deterrent relies on three key components: air launched weapons, submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and the ground based strategic deterrent (GBSD). …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2016: Warsaw provides clarity on Wisla, sort of

  14th September 2016

  After a week of mixed messages from the Polish government about its purchase of a new air-and-missile defence system, Warsaw has reiterated its intention to …

• Training

  Boeing’s T-X aircraft unveiled

  13th September 2016

  At a ceremony held at Boeing’s Phantom Works in St Louis, Boeing and Saab unveiled their new aircraft for the US Air Force’s T-X programme. …

• Digital Battlespace

  USMC orders nine more G/ATORs

  9th September 2016

  Northrop Grumman has received an order from the US Marine Corps (USMC) for another nine AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) low rate initial production (LRIP) …

• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Australia’s GBAD jigsaw puzzle

  8th September 2016

  The topic of ground-based air defence (GBAD) and integrated air defence attracted much attention at Land Forces 2016 in Adelaide, although potential vendors are awaiting …

• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Boxer dukes it out with AMV35

  7th September 2016

  The Australian Army’s Land 400 Phase 2 programme for combat reconnaissance vehicles attracted top attention at Land Forces 2016 in Adelaide, with the field now …

• Digital Battlespace

  G/ATOR Block II completes CDR

  30th August 2016

  Northrop Grumman and the US Marine Corps (USMC) have completed the preliminary design review (PDR) and critical design review (CDR) of the Ground Weapon Locating …

• Training

  T-X uncovered

  25th August 2016

  The unveiling of any new aircraft generates a certain amount of excitement, but when two are revealed in the space of a few days, that …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army eyes new helo protection in 2020s

  12th August 2016

  The US Army has set a date of 2023 to begin equipping its helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft with new self-protection systems that can warn against …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Japan professes desire for Israeli UAVs

  12th August 2016

  The Japan Self-Defence Force (JSDF) is buying three Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 UAVs, but it is simultaneously exploring cooperation with Israel because …

• Digital Battlespace

  EPS CAPS programme on track

  11th August 2016

  The US Air Force’s Enhanced Polar System (EPS) Control and Planning Segment (CAPS) hardware has been delivered to operational sites by Northrop Grumman as the …

• Training

  LVC training in Alaska

  10th August 2016

  One of the major issues in conducting live training with fifth-generation aircraft such as the F-22 and F-35 is range space. These aircraft have long …

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, ...