Northrop Grumman Corporation has been chosen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to progress to the next phase of its autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft development under the ANCILLARY program. DARPA’s ANCILLARY Phase 1b air vehicle design and system technology maturation award entails a 10-month period focused on enhancing modeling accuracy, conducting essential subsystem testing, and mitigating key technical challenges. Leveraging its extensive experience in autonomous VTOL systems and long-endurance aircraft, Northrop Grumman aims to advance its ANCILLARY air vehicle design for DARPA. Collaborating with Leigh Aerosystems and Near Earth Autonomy, the company aims to achieve project objectives and deliver a cost-effective solution to the warfighter community, moving closer to the development of a flight demonstrator.
Christopher Harris, Program Manager, ANCILLARY, Northrop Grumman,“Northrop Grumman’s expertise in VTOL autonomous systems is built on thousands of flight hours of ship-based operational experience with the U.S. Navy. We are pairing forward-looking and industry-leading technical capabilities to provide next-generation intelligence gathering solutions via the ANCILLARY autonomous system.”