Northrop Grumman developing new UAS multinode processor

Northrop Grumman's InSight software-programmable, open systems compliant processor. (Northrop Grumman)

Programme officials at Northrop Grumman are in the midst of testing and development of a new, multinode airborne processor for use aboard unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).

The new processor is the latest variant under development for the company's InSite family of battlefield edge processors, Rosa Salazar, program director of advanced communications at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, said.

The UAS-focused open architecture processor variant is currently in laboratory testing phase, with programme officials focused on hosting and integrating various modules, functions, and capabilities into the processor, Salazar told Janes during a March interview.

“We have not gotten to a point yet where we are integrating [capabilities] for flight,” she said, noting these efforts will likely take place later in 2025 or in early 2026.

The InSite family of processor variants runs the gamut in terms of capacity and form factor, ranging from the five-slot 3U OpenVPX chassis under development for UASs to a 22-slot chassis for large, fixed-wing aircraft, according to Salazar.

“Here is your 3U [electronic warfare (EW) card] and here is your 3U networking module” on top of all the cryptographic and messaging layer security (MLS) to allow data passback to higher command, she said. The reachback capability for InSite is focused on connecting these processors to the US Air Force's (USAF's) Battle Network, Salazar noted.

In December 2024 programme officials held an internal demonstration of an InSite multifunction airborne processor, featuring a 12-slot chassis, according to Salazar. The 12-slot version demonstrated also represented the minimum viable product (MVP) for the InSite programme.