AUSA 2025: Northrop Grumman's Lumberjack offers attritable, modular UAV

A top-right view of Northrop Grumman's Lumberjack modular, attritable UAV. (Northrop Grumman)

Northrop Grumman is displaying its Lumberjack Group 3 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) during the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2025 conference in Washington, DC, from 13 to 15 October. Group 3 UASs weigh less than 1,300 lb and fly at speeds of less than 250 kt.

The air vehicle is an “operational attritable UAS, and we're developing it in partnership with ESAero [Empirical Systems Aerospace] and Palantir”, Michael Bastin, programme director for Northrop Grumman, told Janes at the conference on 13 October.

For Lumberjack, Northrop Grumman serves as the lead systems integrator, bringing its mission systems and solutions, he said. Palantir brings its rapid software integration capabilities, which will make it easier for Northrop Grumman to “integrate third-party attributes on the platform, integrate it into different control schemes, ground control, airborne control, things like that”, Bastin said.

“We work with ESAero because it's a small business, they're able to really quickly and rapidly prototype things, build it, demonstrate it, test it,” he continued. “So, we get in this habit of building, getting a customer to come look at it, getting their feedback, iterating.”

With this approach, the team went from “concept to first flight in 14 months”, Bastin said.

Compatible design

Lumberjack has the same length as a Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), which enables it to be integrated with a variety of platforms, he said. “We're looking at manned, unmanned, jet-powered, rotorcraft-powered” as well as ground launchers, Bastin said.

The air vehicle is designed for a range of several hundred miles, he added.