Northrop Grumman Lands $100 M U.S. Air Force Deal to Pioneer Advanced Long-Range Strike Systems
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Pentagon has cleared a ceiling contract worth up to 100 million dollars for Northrop Grumman to advance the Stand In Attack Weapon and the AARGM ER under a unified Air Force framework that runs through 2034. The move signals Washington’s intent to preserve credible strike options against modern air defenses as global competitors expand their denial networks.
On December 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of War disclosed a new ceiling contract of up to 100 million dollars, awarding Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation responsibility for advancing the Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW) and the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range (AARGM-ER), as reported by the Department’s official contracts bulletin. Placed on behalf of the U.S. Air Force, the award links missile development and production into a single long-term framework that runs until the end of 2034. The package targets two families of precision weapons designed to operate inside heavily defended airspace and neutralize modern air-defense systems. At a time when potential adversaries are investing heavily in anti-access and area-denial networks, the announcement highlights Washington’s determination to maintain credible strike options against mobile launchers, command nodes and radar sites. For NATO partners and Indo-Pacific allies operating similar aircraft, the decision also provides early insight into capabilities that may shape future coalition air campaigns.
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By tying the Stand-In Attack Weapon and AARGM-ER into a single 100-million-dollar, decade-long contract, the U.S. Air Force is consolidating its next generation of anti-access and air-defense suppression capabilities under one industrial partner (Picture Source: Northrop Grumman)
Under a cost-reimbursement and firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, Northrop Grumman will handle hardware design, systems engineering, digital modeling, integration, qualification, and flight testing, while also establishing repair capabilities for test assets tied to both missile programs. Work will take place at the company’s Northridge, California facility, with completion expected by December 31, 2034. The effort supports the Air Force’s Stand-In Attack Weapon Middle Tier Acquisition pathway, which aims to accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities by streamlining development and production. The sole-source contract begins with an initial $18,701 in fiscal 2025 R&D funds, administered by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base.
The Stand-In Attack Weapon is an air-to-surface missile designed to let U.S. pilots attack high-value, relocatable targets that underpin an adversary’s anti-access and area-denial architecture, such as mobile long-range missile launchers, electronic-warfare systems and hardened command posts. Instead of being fired from far outside the threat envelope, SiAW is intended for “stand-in” employment from aircraft already operating in contested airspace, with propulsion sized to deliver the required engagement range while the launching platform remains outside the most lethal surface-to-air missile rings.
Northrop Grumman’s solution is initially optimized for the F-35A, using a tail-controlled airframe to enhance manoeuvrability and survivability and incorporating a Weapon Open Systems Architecture so that seekers, sensors and warheads can be updated rapidly as new threat sets emerge. Agile software development and a fully digital engineering environment are central to the program, enabling faster testing of design changes and supporting future spiral upgrades.
AARGM-ER, by contrast, is a dedicated anti-radiation missile derived from the AGM-88E AARGM and focused on suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses. The extended-range version keeps the proven multi-mode guidance section and advanced electronics of the current AARGM family but mates them to a redesigned airframe with a larger rocket motor, additional thermal protection and strakes to increase reach, speed and survivability against modern surface-to-air missile systems. According to Northrop Grumman data, the missile autonomously detects, classifies and homes on hostile radars, including those supporting surface-to-air missile batteries, and is designed to continue the engagement even if operators try to defeat it by switching emitters off.
An upgraded warhead and tail-control surfaces improve lethality and terminal manoeuvrability, while the removal of mid-body wings reduces drag and allows internal carriage in the F-35A and F-35C. Compatibility with external stations on platforms such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon is also planned, expanding the missile’s potential user base across the joint and allied fleet.
Together, the SiAW and AARGM‑ER form a complementary suite designed to penetrate advanced integrated air-defense networks. In the opening phase of a high-intensity conflict, fighters and electronic‑attack aircraft equipped with AARGM‑ER would target long‑range surveillance and fire‑control radars, while SiAW would engage mobile launchers, jammers, and command vehicles that underpin adversary anti‑access systems. Both weapons are being integrated with the F‑35, allowing stealth platforms to act as sensors and strike assets simultaneously, thereby shortening the kill chain from detection to engagement. This combined focus on “strike from sanctuary” reflects a doctrinal shift toward delivering precise, coordinated effects from beyond heavy air‑defense coverage rather than relying on large-scale formations penetrating contested airspace.
Strategically, the Air Force’s decision to establish a decade-long framework for these missiles addresses concerns about contested theaters such as the Western Pacific, the Baltic region and the Middle East, where potential adversaries are fielding layered air defenses, long-range precision fires and advanced electronic-warfare capabilities. Investing early in stand-in and extended-range anti-radiation weapons is intended not only to deter those actors by complicating their operational planning, but also to reassure allies that the United States will retain the means to open corridors through modern integrated air-defense systems in support of NATO and Indo-Pacific partners. For European and Asian air forces that already operate F-35s or legacy fighters compatible with AARGM-ER, the contract may foreshadow future cooperative opportunities, from joint testing campaigns to eventual foreign military sales, deepening interoperability around a common set of suppression-of-enemy-air-defense tools.
By tying the Stand-In Attack Weapon and AARGM-ER into a single 100-million-dollar, decade-long contract, the U.S. Air Force is consolidating its next generation of anti-access and air-defense suppression capabilities under one industrial partner. The relatively small initial funding hides a broader ambition to move both missiles rapidly from development into sustained production using digital engineering, modular architectures and the Middle Tier Acquisition pathway. As rivals refine mobile missile forces and dense radar networks, the combination of SiAW and AARGM-ER is being positioned as a central instrument for breaking open defended airspace at the start of any major air campaign, signalling that the United States intends to keep freedom of action in the world’s most heavily contested skies.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Pentagon has cleared a ceiling contract worth up to 100 million dollars for Northrop Grumman to advance the Stand In Attack Weapon and the AARGM ER under a unified Air Force framework that runs through 2034. The move signals Washington’s intent to preserve credible strike options against modern air defenses as global competitors expand their denial networks.
On December 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of War disclosed a new ceiling contract of up to 100 million dollars, awarding Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation responsibility for advancing the Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW) and the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range (AARGM-ER), as reported by the Department’s official contracts bulletin. Placed on behalf of the U.S. Air Force, the award links missile development and production into a single long-term framework that runs until the end of 2034. The package targets two families of precision weapons designed to operate inside heavily defended airspace and neutralize modern air-defense systems. At a time when potential adversaries are investing heavily in anti-access and area-denial networks, the announcement highlights Washington’s determination to maintain credible strike options against mobile launchers, command nodes and radar sites. For NATO partners and Indo-Pacific allies operating similar aircraft, the decision also provides early insight into capabilities that may shape future coalition air campaigns.
By tying the Stand-In Attack Weapon and AARGM-ER into a single 100-million-dollar, decade-long contract, the U.S. Air Force is consolidating its next generation of anti-access and air-defense suppression capabilities under one industrial partner (Picture Source: Northrop Grumman)
Under a cost-reimbursement and firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, Northrop Grumman will handle hardware design, systems engineering, digital modeling, integration, qualification, and flight testing, while also establishing repair capabilities for test assets tied to both missile programs. Work will take place at the company’s Northridge, California facility, with completion expected by December 31, 2034. The effort supports the Air Force’s Stand-In Attack Weapon Middle Tier Acquisition pathway, which aims to accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities by streamlining development and production. The sole-source contract begins with an initial $18,701 in fiscal 2025 R&D funds, administered by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base.
The Stand-In Attack Weapon is an air-to-surface missile designed to let U.S. pilots attack high-value, relocatable targets that underpin an adversary’s anti-access and area-denial architecture, such as mobile long-range missile launchers, electronic-warfare systems and hardened command posts. Instead of being fired from far outside the threat envelope, SiAW is intended for “stand-in” employment from aircraft already operating in contested airspace, with propulsion sized to deliver the required engagement range while the launching platform remains outside the most lethal surface-to-air missile rings.
Northrop Grumman’s solution is initially optimized for the F-35A, using a tail-controlled airframe to enhance manoeuvrability and survivability and incorporating a Weapon Open Systems Architecture so that seekers, sensors and warheads can be updated rapidly as new threat sets emerge. Agile software development and a fully digital engineering environment are central to the program, enabling faster testing of design changes and supporting future spiral upgrades.
AARGM-ER, by contrast, is a dedicated anti-radiation missile derived from the AGM-88E AARGM and focused on suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses. The extended-range version keeps the proven multi-mode guidance section and advanced electronics of the current AARGM family but mates them to a redesigned airframe with a larger rocket motor, additional thermal protection and strakes to increase reach, speed and survivability against modern surface-to-air missile systems. According to Northrop Grumman data, the missile autonomously detects, classifies and homes on hostile radars, including those supporting surface-to-air missile batteries, and is designed to continue the engagement even if operators try to defeat it by switching emitters off.
An upgraded warhead and tail-control surfaces improve lethality and terminal manoeuvrability, while the removal of mid-body wings reduces drag and allows internal carriage in the F-35A and F-35C. Compatibility with external stations on platforms such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon is also planned, expanding the missile’s potential user base across the joint and allied fleet.
Together, the SiAW and AARGM‑ER form a complementary suite designed to penetrate advanced integrated air-defense networks. In the opening phase of a high-intensity conflict, fighters and electronic‑attack aircraft equipped with AARGM‑ER would target long‑range surveillance and fire‑control radars, while SiAW would engage mobile launchers, jammers, and command vehicles that underpin adversary anti‑access systems. Both weapons are being integrated with the F‑35, allowing stealth platforms to act as sensors and strike assets simultaneously, thereby shortening the kill chain from detection to engagement. This combined focus on “strike from sanctuary” reflects a doctrinal shift toward delivering precise, coordinated effects from beyond heavy air‑defense coverage rather than relying on large-scale formations penetrating contested airspace.
Strategically, the Air Force’s decision to establish a decade-long framework for these missiles addresses concerns about contested theaters such as the Western Pacific, the Baltic region and the Middle East, where potential adversaries are fielding layered air defenses, long-range precision fires and advanced electronic-warfare capabilities. Investing early in stand-in and extended-range anti-radiation weapons is intended not only to deter those actors by complicating their operational planning, but also to reassure allies that the United States will retain the means to open corridors through modern integrated air-defense systems in support of NATO and Indo-Pacific partners. For European and Asian air forces that already operate F-35s or legacy fighters compatible with AARGM-ER, the contract may foreshadow future cooperative opportunities, from joint testing campaigns to eventual foreign military sales, deepening interoperability around a common set of suppression-of-enemy-air-defense tools.
By tying the Stand-In Attack Weapon and AARGM-ER into a single 100-million-dollar, decade-long contract, the U.S. Air Force is consolidating its next generation of anti-access and air-defense suppression capabilities under one industrial partner. The relatively small initial funding hides a broader ambition to move both missiles rapidly from development into sustained production using digital engineering, modular architectures and the Middle Tier Acquisition pathway. As rivals refine mobile missile forces and dense radar networks, the combination of SiAW and AARGM-ER is being positioned as a central instrument for breaking open defended airspace at the start of any major air campaign, signalling that the United States intends to keep freedom of action in the world’s most heavily contested skies.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
