Northrop Grumman
Cruise missile

Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Team on Faster Cruise Missile

June 25, 2019
The two companies are combining forces to develop a hypersonic cruise missile for DARPA and the U.S. Air Force.

Raytheon Co. and Northrop Grumman have signed a teaming agreement to integrate Northrop Grumman’s scramjet engines on Raytheon’s air-breathing hypersonic weapons. The agreement helps speed the development of next-generation tactical missile systems for the armed forces. The scramjet engines forcibly compress incoming air into the combustion area of the engine to enable sustained vehicle flight at hypersonic speeds. For missile systems, the increased speeds result in reduced flight times and increased survivability in hostile environments.

“The Raytheon/Northrop Grumman team is quickly developing air-breathing hypersonic weapons to keep our nation ahead of the threat,” said Dr. Thomas Bussing, vice president of Raytheon’s Advanced Missile Systems. “This agreement combines Raytheon’s decades of tactical missile expertise with Northrop Grumman’s extensive scramjet engine development experience to produce the best possible weapons.” The teamwork is part of a hypersonic air-breathing weapon concept (HAWC) program valued at $200 million with the goal to deliver an advanced cruise missile for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force.

“This teaming agreement extends our strong partnership with Raytheon on this critical technology capability,” said Mike Kahn, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Defense Systems. “Our deep heritage in propulsion, fuzes, and warheads will help accelerate readiness of tomorrow’s missiles to meet range, survivability, safety, and lethality requirements…Together with Raytheon, we intend to make great strides toward improving our nation’s high-speed weapon systems, which are critical to enhancing our warfighters’ capabilities for greater standoff and quicker time to target.”

About the Author

Jack Browne | Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.

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