David J. Barton
Northrop Grumman is currently working on a number of unmanned systems and its Tactical Exploited Reconnaissance Node has just entered the second phase of development, Northrop said Monday.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research are leading the Tern program, which is meant to improve aviation capabilities from smaller ships.
“Being competitively selected to execute Phase II of the Tern program allows us to further demonstrate how our system could advance the Navy’s mission,” said Chris Hernandez, vice president of advanced systems at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.
Tern is designed to operate off small-deck U.S. Navy vessels that the company and branch believe need only minor modifications.
The program’s goal is to make a semi-autonomous, long-range, persistent ISR/strike asset.
