Login
iscover
The Pentagon has tasked three global defence primes with developing the next-generation air-to-surface missile for the US Air Force’s strike fighter fleet.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, and Northrop Grumman Corporation have reportedly secured contracts from the US Air Force (USAF) for the development of the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) missile.
The contracts have a performance period of three months, with three competitive gates for the selected contractors to validate their missile capabilities under a digital acquisition approach.
Northrop Grumman has released a statement claiming it has invested to mature and test its missile design, leveraging in-house digital engineering capabilities.
Northrop Grumman is expected to complete preparations to launch the missile this year, tipped to feature open architecture interfaces designed to bridge current requirements with future upgrades.
“As a missile leader, Northrop Grumman has a proven history of developing and rapidly delivering long range, highly capable and survivable weapons,” Mary Petryszyn, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Defense Systems, said.
“We continue to advance our offering to stay ahead of threats and help ensure our mission-enabling capability will be technologically mature, tested and affordable.”
As part of Phase 1 of the SiAW competition, the USAF aims to align the SiAW missile system technical capabilities to the Air Combat Command requirements and to the Air Force Weapon Government Reference Architecture.
This includes establishing an integrated digital environment to design, develop, and test the initial increment of the SiAW missile system.
The system leverages a digital engineering methodology and model-based systems engineering best practices.
The offering draws from the US Navy’s AARGM-ER, engineering and manufacturing development, low-rate initial production and integration work on the F-35 aircraft.
According to Northrop Grumman, it has flown and validated its capabilities against integrated air defence targets.
[Related: Northrop Grumman selected to boost space-powered defence connectivity]
