• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to work on GPS solution for USAF

  24th June 2013

  Northrop Grumman will continue work to improve geo-registration accuracy for positioning and pointing applications for the US Air Force under a phase two inertial navigation …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Paris Air Show 2013: Europe questions UAV progress

  21st June 2013

  European UAV development has been slow at best in recent years, but industry is confident that indigenous designs will impact the market in the years …

• Military Logistics

  Northrop Grumman announces UK Sentry FQIS order

  20th June 2013

  Northrop Grumman will design, develop, integrate, test and support a Fuel Quantity Indicator System (FQIS) for the UK’s Sentry E-3D Airborne Warning and Control System …

• Defence Helicopter

  Japan receives first AQS-24A mine-hunting system

  19th June 2013

  The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) is a step closer to deploying Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24A airborne mine-hunting vehicles on its new MCH-101 helicopter platform, with …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Raytheon wins USAF Global Hawk logistics contract

  17th June 2013

  Raytheon will provide contractor logistics support to the ground station elements for the US Air Force's fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) …

• Defence Helicopter

  Saudi Arabia to receive Longbow FCRs for Apache

  13th June 2013

  The Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman joint venture, Longbow, will supply Longbow Fire Control Radars (FCRs) to Saudi Arabia under a $90.6 million contract announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman to support US Navy USV minehunting

  11th June 2013

  Northrop Grumman will support the US Navy’s integration of the AQS-24A Side Look Sonar System onto an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) under a new contract …

• Naval Warfare

  Northrop Grumman announces US Navy CANES bid

  4th June 2013

  Northrop Grumman has announced that it will submit a bid for the US Navy Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES) full deployment contract. CANES …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Navy's MQ-4C Triton UAV takes flight

  23rd May 2013

  The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) under development by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy has completed its first flight on 22 May. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australia to issue LOR for US Navy MQ-4C Triton UAV

  17th May 2013

  The Australian Minister for Defence has announced that Australia is considering the US Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of the replacement …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Germany ends Eurohawk programme

  15th May 2013

  Germany plans to end the Eurohawk UAV programme due to problems relating to air space integration and airworthiness, it has emerged. The German government informed …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B completes first carrier-based catapult launch

  15th May 2013

  The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator has become the first unmanned aircraft to be launched by catapult from a ship, following the completion …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bids invited for reopened VXX programme

  8th May 2013

  The US Navy has called for proposals from industry to provide 21 aircraft to replace the existing presidential helicopter fleet – known as Marine One. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B UCAS-D makes first arrested landing

  7th May 2013

  Northrop Grumman has announced that the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator under development with the US Navy has conducted its first fly-in arrested …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman launches UGV on international market

  23rd April 2013

  Northrop Grumman will unveil the Cutlass, its latest generation UGV, at the Counter Terror Expo in London on April 24, as it eyes international sales …

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, ...