Photo: Northrop Grumman
Come 2026 American attack aircraft will be able to fire a new type of missile at ground targets. The US Air Force (USAF) calls it the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW), and it is currently under development at the hands of defense contractor Northrop Grumman.
We first got wind of the SiAW back in September 2023, when the USAF handed Northrop Grumman a $705 million contract to build prototypes for at least four guided flight tests. Sadly, not much has changed since then when it comes to the available details on the missile, but a significant milestone was reached earlier this week: the first test missile was delivered by the company making it in the hands of the USAF.
The parties involved do not say where this particular missile is at the moment, or when it will take to the sky to test if aircraft can safely carry and release it, but the single photo that came with the announcement (main pic of this story) appears to show a weapon almost as large as the hangar in it housed in.
And it probably is. Although we don't know all there is to know about the SiAW, word is it is based on the AGM-88 HARM, a weapon that's been around since the 1980s and was used in several major conflicts, including Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.
The HARM (that's short for High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is no tiny stick, as it comes in at 13 feet 8 inches (4.17 meters) long. It is fired at targets from planes (operated by the Navy, Marine Corps, and USAF), hurtling toward their destination at speeds that can reach Mach 2.9 (2,225 mph/3,581 kph).
The SiAW is meant to be fired at "rapidly relocatable targets" (that can mean everything from command and control posts to missile launchers and jamming systems), from a safe enough distance to ensure the pilots do not get in harm's way.
Northrop Grumman revealed not long ago that the SiAW, unlike its predecessors, will be built using an open architecture, and that should allow it to be upgraded with new capabilities and hardware as soon as they become available.
The company has until 2026 to develop a fully-working prototype of the missile and have it in the air, so expect quite a bit more news on this topic to head our way in the near future.
As for the cost of one of these weapons, it's too early to say, because the contract awarded by the USAF does not include the missiles alone, but also supporting hardware and the actual test flights. If we are to take the HARM as a reference point, then we can expect one to cost anywhere between $280,000 and $800,000.
The parties involved do not say where this particular missile is at the moment, or when it will take to the sky to test if aircraft can safely carry and release it, but the single photo that came with the announcement (main pic of this story) appears to show a weapon almost as large as the hangar in it housed in.
And it probably is. Although we don't know all there is to know about the SiAW, word is it is based on the AGM-88 HARM, a weapon that's been around since the 1980s and was used in several major conflicts, including Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.
The HARM (that's short for High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is no tiny stick, as it comes in at 13 feet 8 inches (4.17 meters) long. It is fired at targets from planes (operated by the Navy, Marine Corps, and USAF), hurtling toward their destination at speeds that can reach Mach 2.9 (2,225 mph/3,581 kph).
The SiAW is meant to be fired at "rapidly relocatable targets" (that can mean everything from command and control posts to missile launchers and jamming systems), from a safe enough distance to ensure the pilots do not get in harm's way.
Northrop Grumman revealed not long ago that the SiAW, unlike its predecessors, will be built using an open architecture, and that should allow it to be upgraded with new capabilities and hardware as soon as they become available.
The company has until 2026 to develop a fully-working prototype of the missile and have it in the air, so expect quite a bit more news on this topic to head our way in the near future.
As for the cost of one of these weapons, it's too early to say, because the contract awarded by the USAF does not include the missiles alone, but also supporting hardware and the actual test flights. If we are to take the HARM as a reference point, then we can expect one to cost anywhere between $280,000 and $800,000.
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