Northrop drops off SNC-led Navy trainer team

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Northrop Grumman has dropped out of its team-up with Sierra Nevada on the latter’s offering for the Navy’s next-gen trainer, Breaking Defense has learned.

Northrop joined SNC’s Freedom offering for the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) in February 2026. In response to questions from Breaking Defense about the status of the agreement, Northrop and SNC confirmed today that the agreement was no longer in effect.

“As part of our disciplined portfolio management and ongoing commitment to prioritizing the warfighter, we have elected to focus our resources on opportunities where our mature capabilities and investments can deliver the greatest mission impact,” Northrop said in a company statement. “We remain committed to naval aviation and delivering the capabilities the US military depends on with speed and urgency.”

SNC is still moving forward with the Freedom offering. “SNC remains focused on offering the very best training system available for the Naval Aviation Mission,” a company spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for General Atomics–Aeronautical confirmed it would be sticking with SNC as part of Team Freedom as well.

Freedom is up against Textron Aviation Defense, offering the Beechcraft M-346N as part of a partnership with Leonardo. Lockheed Martin announced in April it would not put forth its offer of the TF-50N with Korea Aerospace Industries for the program, and Boeing announced in June it also would exit the competition. 

It’s unclear exactly when the Navy will be ready to make a decision. In September, the Navy postponed its decision to June 30, 2027.

Northrop, meanwhile, is waiting on another key Navy program to be awarded: F/A-XX, the service’s sixth-gen fighter competition. The Navy is expected to announce a winner between Northrop and Boeing in the near future, although that target date has been continuously moving.