Northrop Grumman has demonstrated a new autonomous uncrewed aircraft system capable of targeting, strike and surveillance missions during a US Army exercise, according to the company.
The system, known as Lumberjack, was tested with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Lethal Eagle, where it carried out a series of simulated missions integrating autonomy, precision strike and intelligence gathering.
During the exercise, the Group 3 uncrewed aircraft demonstrated autonomous mission control using the US Army’s Maven Smart System, alongside AI-assisted targeting tools. It deployed simulated versions of Northrop’s Hatchet miniature precision munition and maintained beyond line-of-sight communications via satellite datalink to transmit real-time updates and battle damage assessments.
The platform also showed multi-role capability, switching from strike operations to surveillance tasks within the same mission.
“We demonstrated Lumberjack’s ability to adapt across diverse missions and payloads,” said Michael Bastin, director of distributed systems at Northrop Grumman. “This highly attritable system represents a practical approach to cost-effective uncrewed platforms.”
Lumberjack is designed as a low-cost, expendable system intended to deliver effects at scale while reducing the financial and operational impact of losses. It features a modular payload bay, allowing it to carry different mission kits ranging from kinetic strike to non-kinetic effects.
The system can be launched from both air and ground platforms and is designed to operate at range from contested environments, allowing operators to remain at stand-off distances. It was developed in partnership with Empirical Systems Aerospace and Palantir, progressing from concept to first flight in under 14 months, according to Northrop Grumman.
Well I for one welcome our new robot overlords