Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN), a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to greatly increase the effectiveness of forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates by enabling them to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned aerial systems (UAS). [1] These vehicles are to carry 600 pounds (270 kg) of ordnance in order to conduct combat strikes. [2] [3]
The program culminated in successful Conceptual Design Reviews in summer 2014. In May 2014, DARPA and the ONR signed a Memorandum of Agreement, officially naming the project Tern. In October 2015, the Tern program passed a significant milestone with the successful completion Phase II preliminary design, culminating in a successful Preliminary Design Review. [4]
Northrop Grumman won the contract to develop the project in December 2015 with tail-sitter, flying wing aircraft with a twin nose-mounted contra-rotating propeller propulsion system. [5] [6]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft introduced in 2001. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical, and known as Tier II+ during development. The RQ-4 provides a broad overview and systematic surveillance using high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors with long loiter times over target areas.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense company. With 95,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military technology providers. The firm ranked No. 101 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations.
The Boeing X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle is a concept demonstrator for a "next generation" of completely autonomous military aircraft, developed by Boeing's Phantom Works. Manufactured by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, the X-45 was a part of DARPA's J-UCAS project.
The Northrop Grumman X-47 is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The X-47 began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the United States Navy's UCAS-D program to create a carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Unlike the Boeing X-45, initial Pegasus development was company-funded. The original vehicle carries the designation X-47A Pegasus, while the follow-on naval version is designated X-47B.
The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is an American high-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed for and flown by the United States Navy and Royal Australian Air Force as a surveillance aircraft. Together with its associated ground control station, it is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, the Triton is intended to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems, or J-UCAS, was the name for the joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force unmanned combat air vehicle procurement project. Originally two separate projects of the U.S. Air Force and Navy respectively: UCAV and UCAV-N; both programs merged in 2003. The two vehicles involved in J-UCAS were the Boeing X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47A Pegasus, orginially part of UCAV and UCAV-N repectively. J-UCAS was managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, it was stated that the J-UCAS program would be terminated and instead a new long-range strategic bomber program, Next-Generation Bomber, for the Air Force would launch. The program was revitalized into a Navy-only program named UCAS-D.
Future Combat Systems (FCS) was the United States Army's principal modernization program from 2003 to early 2009. Formally launched in 2003, FCS was envisioned to create new brigades equipped with new manned and unmanned vehicles linked by an unprecedented fast and flexible battlefield network. The U.S. Army claimed it was their "most ambitious and far-reaching modernization" program since World War II. Between 1995 and 2009, $32 billion was expended on programs such as this, "with little to show for it".
The Boeing A160 Hummingbird is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter. Its design incorporates many new technologies never before used in helicopters, allowing for greater endurance and altitude than any helicopter currently in operation.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), also known as uncrewed underwater vehicles and underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROUVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). ROUVs are remotely controlled by a human operator. AUVs are automated and operate independently of direct human input.
The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and subsequently became part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered blended-wing-body aircraft capable of semi-autonomous operation and aerial refueling.
The Northrop Grumman Switchblade was a proposed variable sweep oblique wing unmanned aerial vehicle studied by Northrop Grumman for the United States.
The Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft or UCAR was a program carried out by DARPA and the United States Army in 2002-2004 to develop an unmanned combat helicopter. It was cancelled in December 2004 due to a shift of Army funding priorities.
The Heterogeneous Aerial Reconnaissance Team (HART)—formerly known as the "Heterogeneous Urban RSTA Team (HURT)"—program was an aerial surveillance project funded by the Information Processing Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with program managers John Bay and Michael Pagels. The purpose of the program was to develop systems that could provide continuous, real-time, three-dimensional surveillance of large urbanized areas, using unmanned aerial vehicles. The project team was led by Northrop Grumman Corporation, and involved several other academic and corporate researchers.
The Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) was a concept for an unmanned VTOL flight module that can transport various payloads. The concept started as the TX (Transformer) in 2009 for a terrain-independent transportation system centered on a ground vehicle that could be configured into a VTOL air vehicle and carry four troops. ARES' primary function was the same as TX, to use flight to avoid ground-based transportation threats like ambushes and IEDs for units that don't have helicopters for those missions. It was to be powered by twin tilting ducted fans and have its own power system, fuel, digital flight controls, and remote command-and-control interfaces. The flight module would have different detachable mission modules for specific purposes including cargo delivery, CASEVAC, and ISR. Up to 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) of payload would be carried by a module.
The Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) was a United States Navy program to develop an autonomous carrier-based unmanned combat aerial vehicle providing an unmanned intelligence and strike asset to the fleet. After debate over whether the UCLASS should primarily focus on stealthy bombing or scouting, the Pentagon instead changed the program entirely into the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) to create a UAV for aerial refueling duties to extend the range of manned fighters, which led to the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray.
The DARPA XS-1 was an experimental spaceplane/booster with the planned capability to deliver small satellites into orbit for the U.S. Military. It was reported to be designed to be reusable as frequently as once a day, with a stated goal of doing so for 10 days straight. The XS-1 was intended to directly replace the first stage of a multistage rocket by taking off vertically and flying to hypersonic speed and high suborbital altitude, enabling one or more expendable upper stages to separate and deploy a payload into low Earth orbit. The XS-1 would then return to Earth, where it could ostensibly be serviced fast enough to repeat the process at least once every 24 hours.
The Northrop Grumman RQ-180 is an American stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance aircraft intended for contested airspace. As of 2019, there had been no images or statements released, but evidence points to the existence of the RQ-180 and its use in regular front-line service.
Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) is a US program for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) that is considered broadly equivalent to a loyal wingman. CCAs are intended to operate in collaborative teams with the next generation of manned combat aircraft, including sixth-generation fighters and bombers such as the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Unlike the conventional UCAVs, the CCA incorporates artificial intelligence (AI), denoted an "autonomy package", increasing its survivability on the battlefield. It is still expected to cost much less than a manned aircraft with similar capabilities. The US Air Force plans to spend more than $8.9 billion on its CCA programs from fiscal years 2025 to 2029, with an additional $661 million planned for fiscal year 2024. The success of the CCA program may lessen the need for additional manned squadrons.
A loyal wingman is a proposed type of unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) which incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) and is capable of collaborating with the next generation of manned combat aircraft, including sixth-generation fighters and bombers such as the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Also unlike the conventional UCAV, the loyal wingman is expected to be capable of surviving on the battlefield but to be significantly lower-cost than a manned aircraft with similar capabilities. In the US, the concept is known as the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA).
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