The defence contractor achieves a milestone by completing the all-up round preliminary design review. Source: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation’s NGI programme has wrapped up its All-Up Round Preliminary Design Review (PDR) a full year ahead of schedule. 

Breaking free from the conventional timeline, Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Next Generation Interceptor programme is accelerating towards deploying a homeland defence solution.

The PDR not only set the technical framework for integrating Northrop Grumman’s interceptor design but showcased its robustness across challenging environments. To demonstrate capability, the NGI team provided on-site interactive demonstrators, including a full-scale solid rocket motor and avionics, earning commendation from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

In August 2023, the competition, Lockheed Martin, achieved a milestone in advancing the Next Generation Missile Interceptor for the US Missile Defense Agency. Using advanced digital engineering tools, Lockheed Martin completed its preliminary design reviews (PDR) for all NGI major subsystems. Lockheed Martin aims to deliver the first NGI to MDA by 2027.

Lisa Brown, vice president of the Next Generation Interceptor programme, highlighted the global significance of the NGI solution, emphasising the role of production and manufacturing readiness in ensuring its success. Meanwhile, Wendy Williams, vice president and general manager of Launch and Missile Defense Systems, emphasised the commitment to maintaining technical rigour while expediting the NGI schedule.

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According to GlobalData’s “The Global Missiles & Missile Defense Systems Market 2023-2033” report. Northrop Grumman Corp. is the third leading supplier in the North American region, which is set to hold a 19.7% share over 2023–33.

Strategic partner Raytheon, an RTX business, played a role in the success, providing key hardware and simulations for environmental testing. Jennifer Gauthier, deputy president of Air & Space Defense Systems for Raytheon, lauded the decades of experience contributing to developing proven exo-atmospheric interceptors.

The NGI solution, designed to defend the US homeland from Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) threats, showcased digital engineering techniques, propelling the design toward operational capability ahead of schedule. With the critical design review on the horizon, Northrop Grumman anticipates deploying the first operational Next Generation Interceptor as early as 2027, rivalling Lockheed Martin’s offering.