Northrop reveals 50mm gun built to beat drone swarms. August 12, 2026 Northrop Grumman has given a name to the 50mm gun-based air defence system it has been developing to shoot down cruise missiles and drone swarms, calling it Raid Hunter, and says testing through the rest of this year will support accelerated fielding. The system pairs the company's Chain Gun with precision-guided 50mm ammunition and a networked system controller. Its purpose is to handle raids large enough to saturate conventional defences, which is a problem missiles alone cannot solve because a magazine of interceptors runs out faster than an attacker runs out of drones. Discover more British military history UK defence policy Naval torpedo systems That economic point is the one the company keeps returning to. A high rate of fire, deep magazines and fast reloads are what it offers against massed threats, in place of expending an interceptor worth several hundred thousand pounds on a target worth a few thousand. Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager for command and control and weapons integration, said: "Raid Hunter addresses a critical short-range defense gap by delivering rapid, high-capacity protection against complex, mass aerial threats like cruise missiles and drone swarms. It provides warfighters with a cost-effective, flexible tool to decisively defeat evolving threats now and in the future, strengthening the security of vital bases and infrastructure." He said: "War has evolved. Air Defenders need the ability to defend against large, complex raids designed to overwhelm traditional defense solutions. Raid Hunter addresses this critical need by delivering a cost effective and deep magazine solution which can be rapidly delivered to the warfighter at scale." The system is built on a modular palletised form factor sized for transport aboard a C-130, with vehicle-mounted and container-based variants planned. Northrop Grumman has not said when those variants will appear, nor which customers it is working with beyond a reference to government and allied partners. Guns had largely been written off for air defence by the 1990s, displaced by missiles that were more accurate at greater range. What has brought them back is the arithmetic of the drone war. Russian and Ukrainian forces launch small uncrewed aircraft in numbers that make missile defence unaffordable, and the same problem has appeared in the Red Sea, where Western warships have fired multi-million pound rounds at Houthi drones costing a fraction of that. Arms industry analysis Guided ammunition is what makes the return viable as unguided cannon fire against a small manoeuvring target requires a large volume of rounds and a very good fire control solution, whereas a course-correcting projectile allows hits at longer range with fewer shots, while keeping the cost per engagement far below that of a missile. Raid Hunter sits within what the company calls Raid Defense Solutions, its portfolio of layered kinetic counter-drone and air defence products, which combines fielded programmes with command and control software and sensor fusion. Similar thinking is visible across the industry and among European governments. Rheinmetall has continued to develop its Skyranger turret in 30mm and 35mm forms, several armies have brought older self-propelled anti-aircraft guns back into service, and Britain has pursued the problem through directed energy work on DragonFire alongside a series of counter-drone trials. The 50mm chain gun itself is not a new weapon. Northrop Grumman developed the XM913 in that calibre for the US Army's optionally manned fighting vehicle programme, work that produced a gun capable of firing airburst and guided rounds from a mechanically driven, externally powered action of the kind the company has built since the Bushmaster series entered service in the 1970s.

Strong demand could bring daily NYC flights to Melbourne, airport says. Florida Today Aug. 11, 2026, 5:06 a.m. ET * Delta's new seasonal weekend Melbourne-LaGuardia nonstop service is scheduled to run from Dec. 19 until May 2. * Airport officials state that strong demand for the New York City weekend flights could lead to daily service. * Sun Country Airlines will also resume its seasonal nonstop flights from Melbourne to Minneapolis-St. Paul in January. Melbourne Orlando International Airport executives say Delta Air Line's new seasonal nonstop weekend flights to New York City's LaGuardia Airport represent "a really big opportunity for us." And if demand warrants, the airline will bump it up a notch and expand to daily service, airport officials say. Delta will launch weekend nonstop service to LaGuardia on Dec. 19, with once-per-day roundtrip flights scheduled to continue until May 2. Today, Delta's Melbourne flights travel into and out of the airline's bustling hub in Atlanta, Georgia. "They're going to provide service on Saturdays and Sundays. We've already addressed with them - and they are totally on board - that if these flights are very successful, they have no problem very quickly adding daily service," Jack Ryals told a Space Coast Chamber of Commerce ballroom crowd Thursday, Aug. 6, at Hilton Melbourne. "And if that is really successful, they have no problem adding service multiple times a day," said Ryals, who is senior advisor for local and regional affairs at the Melbourne airport. "So if you could do anything to plan your trips, vacations around that Delta flight to LaGuardia, you'll be helping the entire community," he said. Through June, the Melbourne airport hosted 310,971 incoming and outgoing passengers year-to-date on domestic and international flights. That represented a 2.3% decrease from the 318,225 passengers recorded during the same span last year. Total aircraft operations - including air carrier, air taxi, general aviation and military flights - increased 5.4% year-over-year from 77,840 to 82,066 through June. "There's no doubt over these last 20 years that we've done a spectacular job of being a catalyst for economic development - and a less-than-spectacular job of air service for lots of reasons. Many, many of them beyond our control," Ryals told the ballroom audience. Just last week, Northrop Grumman executives dedicated the defense contractor's new 300,000-square-foot Building 250 - which can house more than 1,200 engineers for advanced aircraft design - on airport property off NASA Boulevard. Less than a mile to the southeast, a group of investors hopes to build an 8,000-seat soccer stadium and field a United Soccer League franchise on 54 acres of airport-owned property. This wooded area lies off the south side of NASA Boulevard, east of Broadband Drive, west of Woody Burke Drive, and north of Hibiscus Boulevard. Applications seeking soccer-stadium site plan approval and a conditional-use permit to allow outdoor recreation in a light-industrial zoning district remain under review at Melbourne City Hall. In another Melbourne airline boost, Sun Country Airlines will resume its seasonal nonstop flights to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Jan. 22. That service - which comes on the heels of Allegiant Air's $1.5 billion acquisition of the low-cost airline - will extend through April 2. Melissa Naughton, the airport's assistant director of business development and marketing, said early ticket sales on Delta's LaGuardia route will be key. "New York City is MLB's top unserved market, making this an especially important addition. We hear often from our community about destinations they would like to see from MLB, and we work hard to bring new service to our airport, but ultimately the airlines decide where and how often they fly," Naughton said in an email. "When a new route performs well, it can lead to more flights and give airlines confidence to consider other opportunities here. Every passenger who chooses to fly MLB helps us make the case for more service in the future," she said Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Last-minute offer: Up to 50% offNow's your chance to book your next beach getaway. Take advantage of this last-minute offer with up to 50% off through Palladium Rewards using the promo code PROMO!Palladium Hotel Group | Ad