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American defence prime Northrop Grumman has announced the completion of a separation test for the stand-in attack weapon from a US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.
Northrop completed the safe separation test, in collaboration with the US Air Force, at Eglin Air Force Base on 11 December.
The separation test was designed to validate the flight safety and aerodynamic performance of the stand-in attack weapon (SiAW) and illustrate the missile’s progress towards integration with fifth-generation platforms, such as F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
The SiAW air-to-ground strike missile is designed to rapidly engage and defeat time-sensitive, high-value threats in contested environments. The SiAW can be used against heavily defended land targets.
“The separation test of stand-in attack weapon 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 optimising its performance,” said Colonel Gary E Roos, senior materiel leader, Adaptive Weapons Division, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
“The results can reinforce stand-in attack weapon’s ability to provide a critical advantage to warfighters in the face of evolving threats.”
The missile is designed using digital engineering and features open architecture interfaces that will allow for rapid subsystem upgrades to field enhanced capabilities.
“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,” Northrop Grumman advanced weapons vice president Chuck Johnson said.
“Our work ensures the US Air Force will have a highly survivable precision strike weapon that will meet current and future mission needs.”
