The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has commissioned Northrop Grumman to build an interceptor missile for the sliding phase of hypersonic weapons (GPI). In addition to the USA, Japan is also involved in the development project.
Northrop Grumman was thus able to prevail against the competition from Lockheed Martin and RTX. Since November 2021, all three companies have been working on design concepts for the project. In June 2022, the MDA decided to continue the project without Lockheed Martin’s involvement. Since last Wednesday, only one company has been commissioned as part of the project. It is unusual for the MDA to announce a competition winner even before a preliminary design review is available. It is highly likely that this decision is also due to the National Defence Authorization Act. Under this act, Congress requires the MDA to achieve full operational capability by 2032. Three years before this date, twelve GPIs are to be ready for testing. Now that Northrop Grumman has successfully asserted itself, the company faces the challenge of further refining the preliminary design in the next phase of development. In addition, an initial demonstrator is to prove the performance of the concept on the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense destroyers and Aegis Ashore. In order to do justice to this, the company is relying on digital design processes.
According to the manufacturer, the final system will feature a seeker head for target tracking, a re-ignitable upper stage engine and a dual engagement mode for engaging threats over a wide altitude range. ‘GPI gives forces mission-critical distance in scenarios where distance is an advantage. Northrop Grumman’s revolutionary solution can be tailored to a variety of mission requirements and is designed to work in the evolving threat landscape,’ said Wendy Williams, vice president and general manager, Launch and Missile Defense Systems at Northrop Grumman.
