The first Stand-in Attack Weapon, expected to be used in large numbers to clear a path through enemy air defenses, has been delivered for initial Air Force testing, Northrop Grumman announced. The missile is expected to be operational in just two years.
The Air Force is working on a sweeping force structure review mandated by Congress and reconsidering its approach for the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter. Key to both, however, could be another question: just how large will the service’s B-21 bomber fleet be? During an Oct. 24 earnings ...
The secretive new B-21 bomber is flying as much as twice a week in flight test at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and ground tests of two other aircraft are also proceeding well, program officials revealed at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber conference.
Northrop Grumman said it put a pilot on its new Model 437—ostensibly an autonomous craft—to speed testing, as it won’t need segregated airspace usually required for uninhabited aircraft. A new video of the first flight emphasizes the speed at which the aircraft was fabricated and ...
The F-16’s new electronic warfare suite, the AN/ALQ-257, has begun flight testing after successfully completing ground tests in an anechoic chamber, Northrop Grumman reported. A swift evaluation program—which builds on three years of ground testing and surrogate testing in the air—is expected to wrap up ...
The Northrop Grumman/Scaled Composites Model 437 Vanguard made its first flight Aug. 29. The rapid-prototype jet, which may be aimed at the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment II program, demonstrates the maturity of the company's "digital ecosystem," Northrop said.
The Space Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $200 million contract to build a cutting-edge space radar in the United Kingdom, part of a joint venture between the U.S., U.K., and Australia to monitor 22,000 miles above the Earth around the clock.
Northrop Grumman has wrapped up initial flight tests with its EMRIS multi-function sensor system, which could be applied to "crewed or uncrewed" platforms, the company said. The tests were flown on an unidentified government aircraft and demonstrated rapid software reconfiguration in-flight.
The B-2 bomber fleet is now using an open mission systems architecture that will accelerate the speed with which it can be equipped with new weapons and cuts software update time from years to weeks.
The Air Force should quickly and comprehensively adopt digital methods to regain the speed of fielding new gear necessary to match the "blistering" pace of China's modernization, a new Mitchell Institute paper recommends.
The Air Force is condemning the B-2 bomber that crashed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., in December 2022, saying the aircraft isn't economically repairable. It has not decided what will become of the wreck.
Northrop Grumman received a $7 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity Air Force contract for improvements and maintenance on the B-2 bomber, covering these activities at five USAF bases through 2029. Budget documents show no more procurement or research and development on the B-2 is planned after that ...