Login
iscover
Northrop Grumman and Diehl Defence have signed a memorandum of understanding to support Germany’s layered air and missile defence capability.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The two partners hope that the MOU will enable the integration of Germany’s air and missile defence systems.
The announcement comes as Northrop Grumman and Diehl Defence observed options for collaboration between the two companies in air and missile defence, with an eye to leveraging Northrop Grumman’s integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) pedigree, including the US Army’s Integrated Battle Command System and Diehl’s ground-based air and missile defence system and the IRIS-T SLM.
“Today marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to advancing defence capabilities together with German industry. By joining forces with Diehl Defence, we embark on a collaborative journey to shape the future of integrated air and missile defence,” Rebecca Torzone, vice-president and general manager, global battle management and readiness at Northrop Grumman, said.
The partnership is expected to open up new avenues for collaboration, Torsten Cook, senior vice-president, ground-based air defence business unit at Diehl Defence, said.
“We are excited about this partnership which offers new options to our IRIS-T SLM customers. For example, utilising several GBAD systems such as IRIS-T SLM and Patriot in parallel, improves interoperability and thus, increases the combat value of the systems used.”
The news comes as Northrop Grumman confirmed that it had successfully completed tests for several components of the US Air Force LGM-35 Sentinel, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system.
These successful tests mark the latest progress for the program, which has garnered recent publicity for further cost overruns and capability delivery.
Northrop Grumman successfully tested sections of the forward and aft of the missile through a rigorous test campaign at the company’s Strategic Missile Test and Production Complex in Promontory, Utah.
Sarah Willoughby, vice-president and program manager, Sentinel, Northrop Grumman, said, “Working with the Air Force and our team of suppliers, we put key elements of the missile’s hardware to the test to mature our design and lower risk. The shroud fly-off test proved our modelling predictions are solid, while the missile stack test demonstrated inflight missile performance, helping validate assumptions and fine-tune models.”
The tests lower risk for the program with important data about the missile’s inflight structural dynamics; data from the tests help engineering teams mature models, lower risk and ensure flight success.
The shroud fly-off and missile modal tests were part of the company’s engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) or design contract for Sentinel.
