F-35A Lightning IIs assigned to the 308th Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, taxi the flight line at Tyndall AFB, Florida, Jan. 27, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anabel Del Valle)
UPDATED 9/26/23 at 3:16 pm ET with comment from Lockheed Martin, following a statement from L3Harris.
WASHINGTON — The Air Force has selected Northrop Grumman to build a new ground-attack missile for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to a company press release.
The Air Force’s $705 million award for Phase 2 of the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) is targeting initial operational capability by 2026, the Northrop release says.
The SiAW program previously awarded contracts to the three primes — Northrop, Lockheed Martin and L3Harris — in February for the final stage of the weapon’s first phase. Following that award, a service spokesperson told Breaking Defense that up to two of the contractors could continue into Phase 2. A Northrop spokesperson said Monday the company was the sole award-winner for this stage of the program.
Following publication of this article, on Tuesday L3Harris said in a statement that the company “made the decision not to participate in Phase 2 of SiAW because of the risk associated with the firm-fixed-price contract development program. We look forward to evaluating future opportunities with our largest customer, the Air Force.”
Also on Tuesday, Lockheed Martin said in a statement that the company “made the decision not to proceed with Phase 2,” adding that “our efforts in advancing the use of digital development tools and processes on SiAW have further strengthened our capabilities for delivering highly survivable and accurate deep strike weapon capabilities to the warfighter. We look forward to applying what we’ve learned to future opportunities with the U.S. Air Force.”
The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, the service said that the second phase would run from fiscal 2024 to FY26 and is focused on building the missile prototype.
“Northrop Grumman’s SiAW delivers on the Air Force’s desire for its first digital weapons acquisition and development program,” Susan Bruce, vice president of advanced weapons at Northrop Grumman, said in the release. “With our expert digital engineering capabilities, this next-generation missile represents an adaptable, affordable way for the Department of Defense to buy and modernize weapons.”
As the Air Force moves to bring the new missile online, it’ll buy Northrop’s Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) — which attacks enemy radar systems and transmitters — in the meantime as an interim capability. The SiAW is planned to be used against a broader range of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) targets, such as cruise missile launchers, GPS jammers and integrated air defense systems.
According to Air Force FY24 budget documents, the total cost of the SiAW rapid prototyping effort is $1.14 billion. Once the second phase is completed, the program plans to transition to a major capability acquisition and subsequently integrate with the F-35A, though it’s not clear what other platforms the missile could be used on. Northrop Grumman’s release describes the missile as providing “capability for fifth-generation aircraft and beyond.”
The Air Force plans to buy 400 of the missiles by FY28 and eventually could buy up to 3,000, the documents say, for a total cost of about $8.4 billion.
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