Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced that it has secured a contract with the United States Air Force valued at approximately $705 million for the development and testing of Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW), reports Sarbaz.kz citing Defence News.
Over the next 36 months, Northrop Grumman will advance the development of this weapon, oversee its integration onto platforms, and execute a comprehensive flight test program for rapid prototyping, as stated in the company's press release, to prepare for rapid deployment.
Initially, the F-35 was designated as the primary platform for SiAW, with the Air Force indicating that the B-21 bomber could also be configured to carry this weapon in the future.
According to information presented in the Air Force budget documents for the fiscal year 2024, the total expenditure for the SiAW rapid prototyping initiative will amount to $1.14 billion. Following the successful completion of the second phase, the program is strategically prepared to transition to the substantial acquisition phase.
In the ever-evolving landscape of aerial warfare, the Northrop Grumman SiAW project stands as a significant achievement, built upon a legacy of missile technology that has transformed the dynamics of combat.
This state-of-the-art missile traces its origins to the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). Its predecessor, the HARM system, first deployed in the 1980s, achieved remarkable success during Operation Desert Storm, rapidly homing in on and neutralizing ground-based search and tracking radars, leaving them no time for relocation.
As envisioned by Northrop, this missile represents the next step in this lineage, designed to combat rapidly moving threats on the modern battlefield.
Beyond traditional air defense radars, SiAW is engineered to target a wide range of objectives, including command and control centers, ballistic and cruise missile launchers, GPS jamming systems, anti-satellite systems, and other elusive high-value targets.
SiAW will integrate multiple search sensors, including GPS and other sophisticated navigation systems. The innovative aspect of SiAW extends to its open architecture, facilitating rapid subsystem upgrades and enabling the integration of advanced capabilities as needed.