Northrop Completes First Flight of Its Model 437 | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Thu, Sep 05, 2024

Northrop Completes First Flight of Its Model 437

Company Toots Their Own Horn After Successful Test

Northrop Grumman announced that their Model 437, or “Vanguard,” completed its first flight on August 29 out of their plant in Palmdale, California. The company took this opportunity to show off its ‘digital ecosystem’ capabilities put to work.

Model 437 is a technology demonstrator flown by the company's subsidiary, Scaled Composites. Its concept was first launched three years ago as a solution to the U.S. Air Force’s “Loyal Wingman” program, which was later renamed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), and as a possible U.K. F-35 escort. The company’s flight announcement, however, made no mention of the CCA or the aircraft’s future role in the project.

The aircraft was based on Scaled Composites' earlier design, the Model 401 Sierra. It is a “crewed variant of the original concept,” Northrop clarified, and is “powered by a single Pratt & Whitney 535 engine with approximately 3,400 pounds of thrust.” Its payload maxes out at 2,000 pounds with two AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), carrying speeds up to Mach 0.85.

Questions have been raised as to why Northrop chose to fly Model 437 crewed. The company omitted the explanation, but it is possible that the pilot was a hands-off supervisor to only be used during flight tests.

The recent project “demonstrated how the company’s fully digital engineering ecosystem reduces engineering rework, accelerates schedule and reduces costs,” Northrop stated. Their digital ecosystem works to fully connect the company with its customers and suppliers to streamline connections during new programs, offering time and cost efficiency.

Scaled later released a statement of their own on the Model 437, commenting that it “leveraged extensive experience in rapid design, fabrication, and test of experimental aircraft” in an overall “uneventful” first flight.

FMI: www.northropgrumman.com, www.scaled.com

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Capella Aircraft Corp FW1C50

Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Timber Tiger Touts Curtiss Jenny Replicas

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.04.25): Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO]

Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC