NGC and USAF Test Stand-in Attack Weapon Separation from F-16

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, recently completed a separation test of the Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW) from an F-16 aircraft. The separation test was designed to validate the flight safety and aerodynamic performance of SiAW and illustrate the missile’s progress towards integration with fifth-generation platforms such as the F-35. Safe separation from the F-16 is an important milestone for the missile and reinforces the system’s design maturity. 

Experts:
Col. Gary E. Roos, senior materiel leader, Adaptive Weapons Division, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center: “The separation test of SiAW from the F-16 is intended to provide the United States Air Force validation of the weapon's safe separation characteristics and also generate invaluable data for optimizing its performance. The results can reinforce SiAW’s ability to provide a critical advantage to warfighters in the face of evolving threats.”

Chuck Johnson, vice president, advanced weapons, Northrop Grumman: "This milestone is a key step forward for the SiAW program. With the insights from the separation test, we will continue missile development and ultimately, deliver a critical capability to the warfighter. Our work ensures the U.S. Air Force will have a highly survivable precision strike weapon that will meet current and future mission needs."

Details on SiAW:
SiAW is an air-to-ground strike missile designed to rapidly engage and defeat time-sensitive, high-value threats in contested environments. SiAW expands the target set for the U.S. Air Force to include heavily defended land targets. The missile is designed using digital engineering and features open architecture interfaces that will allow for rapid subsystem upgrades to field enhanced capabilities. SiAW is part of Northrop Grumman’s broad portfolio of advanced weapons, including armaments, components, missiles, electronics and interceptors.