- Northrop Grumman announce the development of a 50mm gun-based platform during the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Alabama
- The palletised system is said to address a short-range air defence gap, neutralising a mix of threats including UAS and cruise missiles
- However, the concept is far from a reality since an operational prototype is not expected until the summer of 2027
Northrop Grumman will repackage its Bushmaster Chain Gun into a modular and transportable weapon system designed to fire 50mm precision-guided rounds, filling a gap in the short-range air defence (SHORAD) sector.
The US defence prime designed Raid Hunter to counter what it describes as “mass, mixed raids” comprising high-priority aerial threats, such as uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and cruise missiles.
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Launched in small salvos, these proximity-fuse interception munitions can make continuous steering adjustments mid-air to hit moving targets. Although, Northrop declined to reveal what seeker these rounds will use.
One production round will cost somewhere in the four-digit price range. Likewise, the palletised system will come to about half the cost of a missile battery. For these reasons, Raid Hunter is designed to operate in batteries, delivering overlapping coverage and high-volume engagement capacity.
Russian salvos against Ukrainian cities demonstrate the multi-angled and low-cost strike tactics used in contemporary warfare. The Institute for the Study of War provide a sense of the scale, reporting that Moscow aim to maximise the size of a single salvo from 77 to 200 missiles of various kinds.
These saturated effects are prompting Western defence companies to reduce the cost imbalance to more sustainable levels. While others like Lockheed Martin attempt to reduce the cost of sophisticated missiles, Northrop aim to improve anti-air artillery, which is already cheaper and can engage strikes at mass.
Conceptual
Northrop announced the development of the 50mm gun on 11 August 2026, during the Space and Missile Defense Symposium taking place in Huntsville, Alabama.
In a press briefing, an executive explained that Northrop is “extending” existing technology to the 50mm standalone gun system. The concept will incorporate chain-gun technology for jam-free and controllable fire as well as the company’s AiON C2 software to detect and respond to different UAS classes.
The Bushmaster family comes in various calibres, primarily functioning as autocannons for different US Army vehicles, though the family also includes smaller machine gun variants.
In the case of Raid Hunter, the palletised system will likely use the 50mm XM913 gun, which the Army has selected for its XM30 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) replacing the ageing M2 Bradley.
Northrop is not the first company to extend a gun turret to a deployable weapon system fit for use on any platform or as an individual counter-drone system.
Germany’s top armaments builder, Rheinmetall, developed the Skyranger 30 turret, which can serve as a standalone counter-drone system or mounted atop an armoured vehicle such as the Lynx IFV.
Years from delivery
As it stands, Raid Hunter has not been tested in real-world conditions.
The weapon system has only been tested in a simulated environment, though all elements have been tested “to some degree,”the executive suggested during the briefing.
However, Northrop are committed to a “high-paced” test schedule, the executive continued, with one test every month over the course of the next year. At which point, the company aim to deliver an operational prototype in the summer of 2027.
