Accelerated Schedule for Development and Flight Test

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded a contract to the Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Missiles & Defense team for rapid development and field testing of its Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI) programme.

Teaming strategically to bring the significant experience of the two companies to bear on the challenge, the team aims to deliver an effective interceptor to defend the US against complex long-range threats on an accelerated schedule. An element of the MDA’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Systems (GMD) – America’s principal ballistic missile defence system – NGI will benefit from the decades of experience the team has in all aspects of missile defence, incorporating the latest in agile processes, AI and model-based systems engineering to offer an affordable, low-risk solution. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon currently provide the interceptor booster, kill vehicle, ground systems, fire control and engagement coordination for the nation’s GMD system.

“There is a critical timeline for fielding this capability and our team brings together the industry’s top missile defense talent, agile design and manufacturing practices, and state-of-the-art operational factories to support the MDA and our nation’s defense against these evolving threats,” observed Scott Lehr, VP/General Manager, Launch and Missile Defense for Northrop Grumman.

“We are bringing together next-generation technologies—digital engineering and game-changing discrimination—for an extremely advanced capability,” added Bryan Rosselli, VP of Strategic Missile Defense at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “This team is building on unmatched experience, accounting for all 47 prior US exo-atmospheric intercepts. With that knowledge, we are also embracing innovative ways to accelerate operational deployment while reducing risk.”