Northrop Grumman will leverage its expertise in autonomous vertical lift aircraft to advance the design and system technology for DARPA’s ANCILLARY autonomous VTOL uncrewed aircraft system. // PHOTO: Northrop Grumman
May 29, 2024
BY Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the next design phase of its autonomous vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, as part of the AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY) program.
Expert:
Christopher Harris, program manager, ANCILLARY, Northrop Grumman: “Northrop Grumman’s expertise in VTOL autonomous systems is built on thousands of flight hours of ship-based operational experience with the U.S. Navy. We are pairing forward-looking and industry-leading technical capabilities to provide next-generation intelligence gathering solutions via the ANCILLARY autonomous system.”
Details on ANCILLARY:
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DARPA's ANCILLARY program aims to develop and demonstrate an X-plane with the critical technologies required for a leap-ahead in long endurance, VTOL UAS performance. The UAS would be able to launch and recover from ship flight decks and small austere land locations in adverse weather without additional infrastructure equipment, thus enabling expeditionary deployments and locally commanded responsive intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR/T) with unique payload capabilities. Unlike large VTOL systems, the small UAS size would allow many aircraft to be stored and operated from one ship, creating a tactical beyond-line-of-sight, multi-intelligence sensor network capability.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.
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