• Defence Notes

  US defence companies report declining sales

  4th November 2013

  US prime defence contractors have reported declining sales for the third quarter of 2013 as some of their businesses are affected by the current budget …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  First flight for MQ-8C Fire Scout

  1st November 2013

  The latest variant of the US Navy's Fire Scout UAV has flown for the first time in California, during which it stayed airborne for seven …

• Defence Helicopter

  Longbow to support US Army Apache systems

  31st October 2013

  A number of on board systems on the US Army’s AH-64D and AH-64E Apache helicopters will be supported by Longbow under a $92.8 million contract …

• Defence Helicopter

  Northrop Grumman awarded Joint STARS retrofit contract

  31st October 2013

  Northrop Grumman will retrofit the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft, trainers and laboratories under a $43 million contract from the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Predator B UAV EW demonstrations continue

  30th October 2013

  The Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has completed a second demonstration to explore its electronic attack capabilities. The demonstration was conducted at the US …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ADEX 2013: Northrop Grumman may be close to Korean Global Hawk sale

  30th October 2013

  Northrop Grumman remains hopeful that South Korea will become the first export customer for the Global Hawk UAS. South Korea has had an interest in …

• Defence Notes

  ADEX 2013: BAE Systems expects KF-16 upgrade contract by year end

  30th October 2013

  BAE Systems provided further details of its planned upgrade of the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (RoKAF’s) KF-16C/D fleet at ADEX 2013, revealing that it …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Troubled waters for UK naval VTOL UAS

  18th October 2013

  A highly anticipated Royal Navy VTOL UAV contract awarded to AgustaWestland was originally awarded to a Lockheed Martin/Saab consortium unable to keep within contract costs, …

• Naval Warfare

  Northrop Grumman wins French E-2C Hawkeye work

  16th October 2013

  Northrop Grumman has been issued a $34.5 million contract by the US Navy to upgrade the French Navy’s fleet of three E-2C Hawkeyes with an …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CaMEL UGV to take part in US Army Demonstration

  9th October 2013

  Northrop Grumman’s Carry-all Modular Equipment Landrover (CaMEL) will take part in the US Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence Robotics Limited Demonstration at Fort Benning to …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman powers up MQ-8C Fire Scout

  24th September 2013

  The MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV is inching closer to deployment with the US Navy following initial ground testing and engine runs at Naval Base Ventura …

• Digital Battlespace

  IAMD IBCS integrates Patriot missiles and Sentinel radar

  23rd September 2013

  The Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) will be capable of launching and controlling Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) and PAC-3 missile …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman details Triton radar development progress

  19th September 2013

  Northrop Grumman is in the midst of risk-reduction tests of the Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) to be installed on the US Navy’s Triton unmanned aircraft …

• Defence Notes

  Rolls-Royce joins BAE Systems’ Hawk AJTS team

  13th September 2013

  Rolls-Royce has joined the BAE Systems’ Hawk Advanced Jet Training System (AJTS) team to compete for the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) T-X programme. The programme …

• Defence Helicopter

  Longbow receives ROK AH-64E Apache radar order

  13th September 2013

  Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman joint venture, Longbow, will supply the Republic of Korea (ROK) with Longbow Fire Control Radars (FCRs) for the AH-64E Apache …

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, ...