Raid Hunter: Northrop’s new gun-based air defense system

U.S. defense giant Northrop Grumman unveiled Raid Hunter on Aug. 11, a 50mm gun-based air defense system built to counter cruise missiles and drone swarms at short range around military bases and other critical sites.

The system pairs the company’s XM913 Bushmaster III chain gun with newly developed precision-guided 50mm ammunition and a networked system controller for battle management, Northrop Grumman said. It is designed to defeat “high-volume, mixed-threat aerial raids,” engaging multiple targets in rapid succession rather than the single-target engagements typical of most short-range air defense systems.

“Raid Hunter addresses a critical short-range defense gap by delivering rapid, high-capacity protection against complex, mass aerial threats like cruise missiles and drone swarms,” said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager for command and control and weapons integration at Northrop Grumman. “It provides warfighters with a cost-effective, flexible tool to decisively defeat evolving threats now and in the future, strengthening the security of vital bases and infrastructure.”

The current version is palletized for transport aboard C-130 aircraft, with vehicle-mounted and container-based configurations planned for the future. Northrop Grumman said the system is already undergoing testing, with additional trials planned through the rest of the year to validate performance and support faster fielding. The company positions Raid Hunter within its broader Raid Defense Solutions portfolio, intended to work alongside its other air defense systems in a layered architecture.

Northrop Grumman says the 50mm caliber provides “lethal, cost-considerate engagement with deep magazines and fast reloads,” aiming to address the cost mismatch between expensive interceptors and cheap drone threats. Company officials told Warsight that guided ammunition also extends the system’s effective range and reduces dispersion at longer distances compared with unguided rounds, since the round corrects its own course rather than relying purely on the accuracy of the initial shot.

Northrop Grumman’s initial announcement included little imagery of the system, an absence noted by Sam Cranny-Evans, editor of Calibre Defence, on social media. Earlier photos of a scale model exist from Eurosatory 2026 in June, where Northrop Grumman first showed the then-unnamed concept and where Warsight editor Mark Cazalet interviewed company officials about the design.

At Eurosatory, Northrop Grumman displayed the system as a palletized turret fitted with a radar for target acquisition and an optoelectronic sight for fire control, armed with the XM913 cannon chambered in 50x228mm ammunition, dubbed “Supershot,” with 400 ready rounds, according to Warsight‘s reporting. Company officials told Warsight the guided 50mm round builds on a separate, Navy-funded program to develop a guided 57mm round for the Mk 110 remote weapon station used on littoral combat ships. Northrop Grumman has not disclosed the guided round’s seeker type, saying only that testing results have been positive.

Company representatives told Warsight that two of the palletized units fit on a single C-130 and can also be moved by CH-47 Chinook helicopter, and that four to six units could provide 360-degree coverage at a large airfield. The system is designed to integrate with the Integrated Battle Command System, allowing it to work alongside longer-range interceptors such as Patriot, IRIS-T and NASAMS, engaging threats those systems let through.

Beyond the Navy-funded 57mm work, Northrop Grumman said it is in discussions with the Army and other potential customers about the 50mm system, though the company has not disclosed any procurement contracts or timelines for Raid Hunter beyond the ongoing test schedule.