The M437 is Northrop Grumman’s concept for a low-cost uncrewed, attritable aircraft designed for U.S. and allied militaries. Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
In this Q&A with Richard Sullivan, vice president for future programs at Northrop Grumman, we discuss how autonomous systems such as Triton and Fire Scout can reduce crew workload for US Navy anti-surface warfare helicopter crews, and autonomous operations can be conducted in contested environments.
Breaking Defense: How does Northrop Grumman view autonomy and uncrewed-crewed operations going forward in a near-peer competition, based on what we’ve seen with Russia in Ukraine and what is expected for multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific.
Richard Sullivan, vice president for future programs at Northrop Grumman.
Sullivan: Northrop Grumman’s family of autonomous systems, including the MQ-4C Triton, MQ-8C Fire Scout and differing variants of the RQ-4 are critical components of networked, global ISR collection for the United States and allied nations. Today, RQ-4 is supporting operations in Eastern Europe on behalf of NATO and the United States Air Force, as well as in the Pacific with our international customers.
The situational awareness that the RQ-4 provides in theater helps ensure operational commanders make informed decisions. Fire Scout, which is capable of deploying off a range of surface vessels, is making a tremendous impact in organic ISR and targeting information collection for the surface fleet.
We also expect the U.S. Navy and allied nations such as Australia to continue to also use Triton to deter conflict in the Indo-Pacific, especially when the multi-intelligence configuration reaches initial operating capability later this year.
We are using our expertise in autonomy and crewed aircraft to not only support all three systems in today’s environment, but also enable future uncrewed-crewed operations.
How our BQM-34 and BQM-74 target drones were deployed during the Vietnam War era is similar to how Ukraine is using drones. We put sensors and systems on our target drones and flew them in advance of other systems. This concept of employing unmanned systems to help the crewed systems be more effective is something that we have gained expertise in over the decades.
Today, Northrop Grumman is an industry leader on the forefront of the design, development and deployment of some of the world’s most cutting-edge sensors and multi-function systems. Our hardware-defined, software-enabled sensors enable us to quickly field advanced software and capability updates to stay ahead of modern and future threats.
We have developed advanced multi-function systems that seamlessly integrate core functions like resilient/secure communications, jam-resistant radar, electronic attack and high gain passive sensing that are necessary for the successful operation of future platforms.
When we discuss “autonomous systems,” I’m not talking about remotely piloted systems. I’m talking about ones that fly a planned mission with crewed-uncrewed teaming so that they can execute the mission and adapt as needed based on data from onboard sensors.
When you think about crew workload and what pilots and weapon system operators face, along with dynamic changes in the environment and sophistication of the adversary, having autonomy to help make decisions reduces crew workload drastically.
Taking the autonomous functions that we develop and optimize in crewed systems and then make them the baseline software configuration for uncrewed systems is easier for us because the tactics, techniques, and procedures are proven in the crewed vehicles.
We can also do a lot of mission management before flight because we can analyze and simulate different situations in our digital environment. We’ve proven many of these capabilities through use of digital engineering capabilities, like digital twins, that help keep programs on track.
Breaking Defense: When we talk about collaborative autonomy, are we talking about uncrewed-crewed, uncrewed-uncrewed as in a swarm, or both?
Sullivan: The definition of collaborative autonomy is having access to information and taking action on it immediately if it is actionable, such as the detection of a surface-to-air missile site that has been activated. Our current uncrewed systems are very specific in how they operate and how data is disseminated. We foresee a future where autonomous scout vehicles provide information to be immediately acted upon by other teaming systems.
So what are the actions that an uncrewed system can take without human intervention? As we go forward in this complex environment, there will be discussions about how much we trust autonomous systems and how much we trust the algorithms.
The results of those discussions are core to what we see as the discriminators to being able to develop systems that have certifiable, trusted algorithms that make it possible for us to have higher mission effectiveness. Trusting that our systems will take action every time a specific scenario happens based on their programming enables uncrewed systems to take action while a human can monitor progress.
We’re looking at this family of systems approach in our advanced modeling and simulations of autonomous vehicles and crewed systems to determine how to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of different systems so that we can more effectively act in contested environments without putting greater risk on service members. That’s key and what collaborative autonomy is.
Breaking Defense: What does it mean to retain autonomy in contested environments where communications and GPS is jammed?
Sullivan: When we look at contested environments, there are many dimensions to being able to operate in that environment. One of those dimensions was implementing reduced observability features on future manned aircraft that will operate in this environment. These aircraft will enable operations for a variety of other systems.
Our breadth of systems, digital approach and operational knowledge is what is driving our complex autonomous systems designs for the 2030 battlespace.
Take, for example, our history on the X-47B — the first unmanned system to autonomously takeoff and land on a naval aircraft carrier, and to also refuel in flight. Through our company Scaled Composites, we’ve developed the Model 401 and 437 technology demonstrators using low-cost manufacturing techniques that bring mass to the fight. I call these ‘attrition tolerant’ — smaller, lower-cost vehicles in the 8,000-10,000 pound max takeoff weight vehicles.
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B, a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft, pioneered unmanned carrier aviation as the first platform to ever land on and take off from an aircraft carrier. Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
These are our future for low-cost aircraft. The Model 401 and derivative autonomous systems concepts are examples of the power of how Scaled designs, builds and tests new aircraft. They showcase our rapid prototyping capabilities that allow us to demonstrate new air vehicles and validate digital engineering tools and processes under accelerated schedules, yet at a low cost, reducing risk for production programs.
As with the tools gained from the Model 401, the lessons learned from that technology demonstrator are now supporting the successful development for new concepts such as a low-cost attritable platform like the Model 437.
We are all-in on transitioning toward a new methodology of rapid design through our next-generation capabilities and our collaboration with global partners that demonstrate our leadership in developing advanced aircraft on a global scale to deter future adversarial threats.
Having systems and payloads resilient enough to operate in a GPS- or communications-jammed environment is another dimension. Programs like our MQ-4C Triton uncrewed ISR vehicle understand how well their systems work in a variety of naval scenarios from the perspective of autonomy.
As we speak, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman are fully immersed in the testing phase of the multi-intelligence configuration of Triton, which will provide commanders an unprecedented amount of information to support critical decision making. For both the Royal Australian Air Force and U.S. Navy, Triton is critical today and indispensable tomorrow. Our across-the-board digital approach and operational knowledge is what’s driving our autonomous systems designed for the 2030 battlespace.
Built for the U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman’s Triton can fly over 24 hours at a time, at altitudes higher than 10 miles, with an operational range of 8,200 nautical miles. Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
Other dimensions include our history on the X-47B — the first unmanned system to autonomously takeoff and land on a naval aircraft carrier, and to also refuel in flight. Through our company Scaled Composites, we’ve developed the Model 401 and 437 technology demonstrators using low-cost manufacturing techniques that bring mass to the fight. I call these “attrition tolerant” — smaller, lower-cost vehicles in the 8,000-10,000 pound max takeoff weight vehicles.
These accomplishments enable us to show different capabilities that are relevant and effective in complex, contested environments. It also demonstrates our ability to rapidly design and field new capabilities.
The contested environments we’re talking about are on the doorsteps of many of our key allies. The US has the unique advantage of having a huge ocean in nearly every direction to protect us from near-peer threats. Having partnerships with allies and being able to develop autonomous systems that are relevant in contested environments is key for them and for us.
We are collaborating with international partners and some of our key allies on developing unmanned systems on a global scale and making it possible for these international partners to provide their organic in-country content.
Combined with the maturity of Northrop Grumman’s autonomous systems architecture, the MQ-8C Fire Scout meets customer requirements for ship-based and land-based autonomous systems. Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
Breaking Defense: What is the relevancy of MQ-8C Fire Scout and Triton to potential uncrewed-crewed teaming with Future Vertical Lift and other aircraft for maritime strike?
Sullivan: As I mentioned earlier, Fire Scout and Triton are already teaming with crewed platforms. Capable of deploying off the deck of a different U.S. and allied nation surface ships, Fire Scout is the vertical takeoff UAV capability that the US Navy uses today. They’re looking at how uncrewed VTUAVs can better augment the current crewed helicopters, the MH-60 Romeo and Sierra, in the roles that they perform for the fleet.
For example, if the MH-60 Romeo/Sierra is spending a lot of its time doing surveillance, let’s let the 10-plus-hour-endurance Fire Scout do the surveillance mission instead. Fire Scout can take that burden away from the MH-60 so that it can do the things that only it can do such as combat search and rescue, and medivac. That’s today’s mission set, but we are also focused on crewed/uncrewed concepts for future vertical lift
When we talk about crewed/uncrewed teaming, the first step is looking at the missions that the crewed systems are doing and determining which of those can be taken over by autonomous, uncrewed systems. It’s like having a two-car family with an electric car and a pickup truck. You don’t drive the pickup truck for everything; you drive it when you need the truck bed. You drive the electric car for everything else, which gives you a good balance of your missions across the two vehicles.
For the missions that the uncrewed system can do best, because it has the same or better sensors and the endurance is usually two to three times more than crewed helicopters, how do we take best advantage of the asset? That’s one of the things we continue to explore with the MQ-8C, as well as Triton for the maritime surveillance mission.
We’re working with the Navy to leverage all the crewed-uncrewed systems available and optimize the usage model for all of them in a way that drives affordability and mission effectiveness. Further, Northrop Grumman is leveraging our experience to partner with other organizations to meet our customer’s operational needs.