"The idea was to see if we could build an aircraft that had all the same capability of our original offering [for the Air Force's CCA program], and do it faster,” said Tom Jones, Northrop's head of aeronautic systems.
The new construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
As aircraft shrink, threats expand, and technology accelerates, aircraft engines must iterate along with the threats.
“We’re not trying to blow up the Death Star. You can blind the optics, start fires, melt plastic, disrupt targeting, overheat electronics. All of that is possible now,” said General Atomics spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley.
In total, the agency is providing awards to 1,014 "qualifying offerors" for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, under deals that could eventually total $151 billion over 10 years.
The partnership will chiefly focus on missile defense and counter-drone operations, using Applied Intuition’s software for vehicle autonomy among other features, paired with SNC defense systems.
Get up to speed on the technologies reshaping US strategy in the Indo-Pacific, from networked warfare to artificial intelligence and 3D-printed drones.
Modeling and simulation get an AI upgrade for more realistic training and improved autonomous platforms.
Separately, American soldiers also trained with Polish and Romanian allies on the Merops c-UAS system, already in use in Ukraine.
The Army is looking for interceptor component parts with the “primary objective” of providing a database that may be "leveraged in support of a future C-sUAS Interceptor program," a recent RFI states.
A new episode of The Weekly Break Out highlights what's new at this year's Dubai Airshow and gets close up to an F-35.
“Detection — especially detection on the low altitudes — this is the most difficult part and when you add to the drones, the low flying cruise missiles, then the detection is really a challenge,” Estonia’s Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur told Breaking Defense.
Six companies have already signed up for a new flight-test program to mature their autonomy software.
As stockpiling munitions becomes increasingly more important, India and the US should team up to create an "arsenal alliance," writes Kriti Upadhyaya from The Heritage Foundation.
CEO of the Emirati conglomerate Hamad Al Marar told Breaking Defense he wants EDGE to rely on exports to be "self-sufficient."
A company representative told Breaking Defense that they are poised to form partnerships with Western contractors, but gov-to-gov regulatory agreements must be ironed out.
The defense contractor is also making a play to dislodge Northrop Grumman as the supplier for US Air Force F-16 EW kits.