Northrop Grumman pitched Raid Hunter as its new 50mm gun-based air defense system, designed to defend against mass mixed raids of missiles and drones. (Image: Northrop Grumman)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Northrop Grumman [NOC] this week unveiled a new short-range air defense system consisting of a precision-guided 50mm chain gun-based air defense system, dubbed Raid Hunter.

The company said the system combines a company-developed guided ammunition with a networked interoperable system controller to defend against high-volume mixed-threat aerial raids of cruise missiles and up to Group 3 unmanned aerial systems.

In an interview with Defense Daily Wednesday here at the annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager for command and control & weapons integration at Northrop Grumman, said the company has been working on this system for 36 months, but ramped up its efforts and internal spending investments over the last year.

Todorov said it consists of the company-made XM913 Bushmaster chain gun, a sensor made by SRC Inc., a basic turret that fits on a pallet that can fit in a C-130 military transport aircraft and a “deep magazine” with 400 rounds.

The real discrimination between Raid Hunter and other similar systems is “the round itself…it’s a guided projectile with a [proximity] fuse,” he said. “As a company, Northrop Grumman knows how to do that.”

“Because it can maneuver, I don’t have to shoot a wall of lead to take down a bunch of UAS threats,” Todorov added. “I can be very discreet in how I prosecute the battle.”

Todorov said they are considering a likely doctrine of one to three shots per target, with each round costing only single digit thousands of dollars.

“We’re still working out the numbers, and a lot will depend on quantities and whatnot, but we think roughly, I’ll say less than $10,000, and I would say significantly less than $10,000 to give you a hint for where we think it is,” he said.

Todorov compared the cost ratio favorably to a scenario like in June 2025 when Iran lobbed 13 ballistic missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, saying Raid Hunter could be used as part of a point defense system for a base.

Open source news reported the U.S. military launched nearly four Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors for each Iranian missile to knock them out.

“You do the math, not economically sustainable,” he said. “So now enter a system like this at a closer range. Yes, it’s meant to be part of a defense in depth, so not a standalone system that’ll solve all of the intercepting challenges, but one that could defend an airbase, one that could defend a very strategic location like an LRDR radar.”

Northrop Grumman said the system can be operated by a single operator or autonomously, pitching its low-cost AiON Counter Unmanned Aircraft System command and control solution, with AI-powered decision aids.

Test Schedule

The company plans for its first operational prototype to be ready in the summer of 2027 then move on to production from there.

Todorov said all of the elements of the system have been well tested, except the new guided round, “which is really, I think, the most stressing part of our test schedule.”

The company is on a path of moving to one test per month until they get to the operational prototype and has thus far conducted four tests with the round, most recently successfully shooting 36 rounds in Dahlgren, Va., at the Navy’s invitation.

“We collected data on them, frankly, exceeded our expectations on what we thought we would see. But some elements, aspects of the round are still yet to be tested,” Todorov said, referring to the maneuverable element.

He added the maneuverable element of the round is on the future test schedule, but did not disclose when.

The company is on track to have a live fire test event integrating the entire system in January or February 2027, including the new round.

“So today we’re sort of testing individual discrete elements of the system, making sure we got that right until we integrate them, which probably happens January, February of ‘27, about five months, six months ahead of our operational prototype for the entire system,” Todorov said.

He also confirmed Northrop Grumman has spoken to the Joint Interagency Task Force-401 about the system and are scheduled to meet with their commanding general next week for a “deep dive.”

The company has also spoken to the Golden Dome team, Missile Defense Agency and foresees a future international market for Raid Hunter.

“We’ve got customers interested from all of the services, frankly, the [Strategic Capabilities Office], in addition to a host of international partners,” Todorov said. “We think they would come after the U.S. customer in terms of how we’re thinking about its production. But eventually, certainly an international market for this.”