Guidance Navigation Control

Raytheon selected by DARPA to advance composable solid rocket motor technology. May 31, 2026 Raytheon, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, in collaboration with Northrop Grumman, has been awarded a phase two contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Burn n' Go program to continue the development of a new solid rocket motor (SRM) design. This new capability will decouple post-manufactured motors from traditional, single-use designs, enabling a composable motor capable of meeting multiple mission needs by adjusting thrust on demand. The award follows a highly accelerated, seven-month phase one effort in which Raytheon and Northrop Grumman demonstrated the feasibility of this new propulsion approach. The technology is intended to support a wider range of missions and weapon systems by giving the military more options from a common, single-use motor design. Under the phase two contract, Raytheon's Advanced Technology team will further mature and scale its solution, followed by a series of demonstrations to show how it performs in increasingly realistic rocket motor configurations. "Solid rocket motor production has become a critical bottleneck for many missile programs," said Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon. "By pursuing a composable approach to how these motors are designed and built, we're helping lay the groundwork for faster, more adaptable munitions production across multiple mission sets." As prime on the contract, Raytheon is partnering with Northrop Grumman's Allegany Ballistic Laboratory (ABL), which has extensive expertise in solid rocket motor design and manufacturing. The team also includes Luna Innovations, contributing its novel material development capabilities, to advance a solution that aligns with DARPA's vision for more flexible, scalable missile propulsion. This collaborative approach builds on the Advanced Technology team's broader composable weapons strategy, which is focused on reducing cycle time, lowering costs and accelerating missile development. Raytheon, an RTX business, is a leading provider of defense solutions to help the U.S. government, its allies and partners defend their national sovereignty and ensure their security. For more than 100 years, Raytheon has developed new technologies and enhanced existing capabilities in integrated air and missile defense, smart weapons, missiles, advanced sensors and radars, interceptors, space-based systems, hypersonics and missile defense across land, air, sea and space. With industry-leading capabilities, the company advance aviation, engineer integrated defense systems for operational success, and develop next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing to help global customers address their most critical challenges. The company, with 2025 sales of more than $88 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Post Views: 27

Touchstone Advanced Composites producing aircraft components. Touchstone Advanced Composites is collaborating with Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense technology company, to fabricate complex structural tooling for the next-generation YFQ-48A Talon Blue Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Under the terms of the partnership, Touchstone will provide its CFOAM tooling material and fabricate certain parts for the aircraft while Northrop Grumman will develop Talon Blue as a modular, cost-effective and rapidly deployable autonomous wingman. Touchstone Advanced Composites is part of Canonsburg-based Core Natural Resources' Innovations business unit and previously played an integral part in Talon Blue's successful autonomous taxi test in California. "Our focus is on bridging the gap between prototype and full-rate production without compromising performance," Dan Connell, president of Core's Innovations business unit, said. "By providing a versatile material with tight control over thermal properties and material behavior, we're able to support a faster, more adaptable engineering process as aircraft continue to evolve. CFOAM is a great example of how Core Natural Resources is creating new value propositions for coal, positioning it as a key material in next-generation applications across advanced manufacturing sectors such as aerospace and defense." Core's Innovations Group produces next-generation coal applications and products. CFOAM technology is used to make the tools or molds for manufacturing composite aerospace parts.

Northrop Grumman and U.S. Air Force push Sentinel ICBM programme toward 2027 first flight. Image: Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force are reporting significant progress on the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile programme, with first flight targeted for 2027 and initial operational capability expected in the early 2030s. A restructured acquisition strategy is driving faster development of America's next-generation ground-based nuclear deterrent, according to Northrop Grumman. Hardware testing, supply chain expansion and infrastructure prototyping are all advancing in parallel, compressing timelines without sacrificing performance standards. Replacing the Minuteman III Sentinel is designed to replace the ageing Minuteman III ICBM, the ground-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. The system will span more than 32,000 square miles across five states, requiring new launch silos, command infrastructure and transport systems. The programme draws on lessons from the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, with Sentinel designed entirely within a digital ecosystem to boost collaboration and engineering efficiency. Its three-stage booster uses solid rocket motors made from composite materials 70% lighter than those in the Minuteman III, increasing payload capacity, range and accuracy for what Northrop describes as "no-fail ICBM missions." Hardware Milestones The missile has moved from digital blueprints into active prototyping, assembly and testing. Northrop Grumman has assembled the first complete three-stage Sentinel booster, verifying design integrity and manufacturing processes. Solid rocket motors for the first five flight tests are already in production. Two Interstage Separation Tests confirmed the missile can cleanly shed spent first and second-stage motors during flight. A shroud fly-off test validated the protective cover housing the missile's payload. An initial mass model sled test subjected the Navigation Inertial Measurement System to flight-representative stress conditions. Passing the test confirms the guidance hardware can survive the environmental forces of actual flight, which is critical to Sentinel's accuracy and mission reliability. Infrastructure and Command Systems Alongside missile development, supporting infrastructure is progressing at pace. Northrop broke ground on a prototype Sentinel Launch Silo tube to validate structural design and construction methods. The new modular silo architecture is expected to cost less than refurbishing existing Minuteman III silos while improving performance and long-term maintainability. Mission-critical transport systems cleared a cross-country road test, confirming high-value assets can be safely moved between facilities. The Launch Support System, a digital command and control network, completed its critical design review, clearing the way for build, test and qualification phases. Industrial Scale More than 500 supply chain partners and upwards of 10,000 professionals support Sentinel across the country. Northrop Grumman has invested $13.5 billion in infrastructure and research and development over the past five years across critical national security programmes. Of that total, $2 billion went specifically toward expanding solid rocket motor capacity, directly supporting Sentinel's ability to scale production. Sarah Willoughby, vice president and general manager for strategic deterrent systems at Northrop Grumman, said the programme "exemplifies what's possible when a bold acquisition approach meets relentless innovation," adding that its workforce and partner network were "united by a common purpose to field the Sentinel weapon system with speed and scale." Long-Term Deterrence The programme is designed to serve U.S. strategic deterrence requirements through 2075, making design resilience and long-term adaptability central engineering priorities. Northrop and the Air Force are also engaging with communities surrounding missile wings, gathering data to support construction planning, fielding and future operations. With 2027 approaching, programme momentum is set to become more publicly visible as construction of critical facilities begins and the first Sentinel flight test draws near.