WASHINGTON — The US Air Force is seeking other vendors capable of supplying a radar-killing missile like one that the service already has on contract with Northrop Grumman, according to a recent notice.
Through a sources sought notice posted Wednesday, the Air Force says it is seeking a missile with “similar or improved capabilities compared to” the service’s Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW). The notice says the period of performance could begin this year so that production units would arrive by 2030.
Interested suppliers should be able to provide an “All-Up-Round (AUR) missile to include hardware and software, as well as any unique logistics elements, trainers, SiAW flyout model, and all system verification elements,” the notice says. Key features include “extended range, advanced targeting, counter-countermeasures, and integration with existing and future platforms,” while all potential candidates “must be compatible with existing launch platforms and infrastructure currently supporting the SiAW.”
The notice does not say why the Air Force is seeking alternate sources for a “SiAW equivalent missile system,” or whether successfully identifying additional vendors could affect the Northrop program. As a market survey, the notice does not necessarily mean a contract award is guaranteed. Spokespeople for the Air Force and Northrop did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The SiAW is a ground-attack munition known as an anti-radiation missile, which homes in on emissions from enemy radars. Envisioned to strike mobile targets, the Air Force also expects to use the SiAW against a wider range of threats like missile launchers, GPS jammers and integrated air defense systems. The weapon is expected to be carried by fighters like the F-35 but could also be integrated with other platforms like the in-development B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
For a SiAW equivalent sought by the Wednesday notice, the Air Force says potential candidates should be capable of hitting targets from “significant standoff distances” and that the weapons should ultimately be exportable. The notice additionally says vendors should be capable of producing up to 600 copies of the weapon annually, and asks for responses by March 19.
The Air Force awarded a contract for the SiAW to Northrop in 2023 — after contractors Lockheed Martin and L3Harris told Breaking Defense they elected not to further pursue the competition. Northrop said at the time of the award that it aimed to field the SiAW this year, but it’s not clear when the Air Force now expects that goal to be reached. Fiscal 2026 budget documents show that “prototype development” is slated to continue through the first quarter of FY27.
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Northrop revealed in November 2024 that it delivered the first SiAW test missile. In December, the company announced a separation test of the weapon from an F-16.
The Air Force is buying the Navy’s AARGM-ER, also manufactured by Northrop Grumman, as a stopgap until the SiAW — or its equivalent capability — comes online. The Air Force requested 99 AARGM-ERs in FY26 as a result, according to budget documents.
The Navy recently embarked on its own search for a new anti-radiation missile, but is seeking options capable of hitting both air and ground targets, according to the War Zone.