Naomi Cooper
A partnership between Northrop Grumman and Shield AI has secured a rapid prototyping other transaction agreement from the U.S. Army to build a prototype of an unmanned aircraft system designed for vertical take-off and landing.
Northrop said Tuesday it has teamed up with the artificial intelligence-powered aircraft manufacturer to develop an open-architecture version of the V-BAT drone for Increment 2 of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System program.
The enhanced V-BAT platform will carry interchangeable payloads, including electro-optical/infra-red imagers, synthetic aperture radar and electronic warfare systems.
“Our team’s enhanced V-BAT embodies more than 30 years of experience designing, delivering and sustaining advanced unmanned aircraft systems, combined with a field-proven platform and production facilities,” said Angela Johns, vice president of autonomous and tactical air systems at Northrop.
The company is among the five companies awarded contracts ranging from $1 million to $25 million to participate in five FTUAS development phases through 2025.
The resulting platform will replace the RQ-7B Shadow tactical UAS that supports reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions.
