Northrop Grumman, in collaboration with the United States Air Force, recently completed separation testing of the Stand-In Attack Weapon (SiAW) from the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft.
The trial was carried out in Eglin Air Force Base on December 11, 2025.
The purpose of this test was to validate the flight safety and aerodynamic performance of the SiAW when released from the aircraft, while demonstrating the missile’s progress towards integration with fifth generation platforms such as F-35 Lightning II.
The safe separation of the F-16 is an important milestone for the program and confirms the system’s level of design maturity.
According to Col. Gary E. Roos, senior materials leader for the Adaptive Weapons Division at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the testing aims to provide the U.S. Air Force with validation of the weapon’s safe separation characteristics, while generating critical data to optimize its performance. He added that the test results strengthen SiAW’s ability to provide critical advantages for soldiers amidst ever-evolving threats.
Chuck Johnson, vice president of advanced weapons at Northrop Grumman, emphasized that this achievement is a fundamental step for the SiAW program. With the data obtained from these tests, the company will continue development of the missile with the ultimate goal of delivering critical capabilities to the armed forces. “Our work ensures the US Air Force has a precision strike weapon with a high survivability rate, capable of meeting current and future mission needs,” he said.
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About SiAW
The Stand-In Attack Weapon is an air-to-ground missile designed to quickly engage and neutralize time-sensitive, high-value threats in highly contested environments. The system expands the US Air Force’s target list, including heavily protected ground targets.
Developed with a digital engineering approach, SiAW adopts an open architecture interface, enabling rapid subsystem upgrades as well as agile integration of new capabilities. The missile is part of Northrop Grumman’s broad portfolio of advanced weapons, which includes weapons, components, missiles, electronics and interceptor systems.
Sources and pictures: Northrop Grumman. This content was created with the help of AI and has been reviewed by the editorial team.
