Northrop Grumman UK has received a contract on phase two of the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Project MOSQUITO.

The contract will see the company serve as a systems engineering partner. Phase two focuses on the design maturing and development of a working technology demonstrator.

Intrepid Minds joins Northrop Grumman to assist the design and produce the UK’s first uncrewed fighter aircraft prototype.

Northrop Grumman UK National Security Solutions director Katharine Sealy said: “Our team is ready to help deliver the required development cost and time savings by providing our expertise in Agile development and DevSecOps to enable a model-based, digital design approach.

“By applying modern software development practices to a digital engineering environment we aim to dramatically reduce the time required to build a flying demonstrator while allowing for seamless integration of additional capabilities in future.”

Northrop Grumman UK will also provide its international Distributed Autonomy / Responsive Control technologies, advanced mesh networking capabilities and more to the aircraft prototype.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

The two companies are part of Team MOSQUITO, which is led by Spirit AeroSystems Belfast.

The team will work on advancing the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept to full demonstration capability in less time and at low cost.

In January, the UK Government announced a further £30m investment into the uncrewed fighter aircraft.

The project is initially expected to support over 100 STEM jobs at Spirit Belfast’s facility.

Spirit AeroSystems Airbus Programs senior vice-president Scott McLarty said: “Spirit Belfast is delighted to lead the delivery of a national programme enabling the development of cutting-edge technologies while maintaining critical skills in the UK.

“Supporting the MOD’s strategic objectives on pace, affordability and operational capacity, Team MOSQUITO will help drive collaborative innovation and competitive advantage. We are excited to develop this relationship with a view to contributing to a more sustainable industrial base for UK defence.”

In July 2019, the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) said it is developing LANCA under the name ‘Project Mosquito’ to deploy with advanced fighter jets such as the Lockheed Martin F-35, Eurofighter Typhoon and the future Tempest air system.