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Military: Rapid-fire chain gun + steerable projectiles = Raid Hunter defense system

Northrop Grumman's next-gen air defense system is aimed at strengthening layered protection against cruise missiles, drone swarms, and evolving aerial threats. Raid Hunter combines advanced battle management, proven Bushmaster Chain Gun technology, and precision-guided 50-mm ammunition to help defend military bases, airfields, and critical infrastructure.

Raid Hunter is Northrop Grumman's 50-mm Gun-Based Air Defense system, engineered to counter mass, mixed raids with rapid, precise firepower and modular deployment options. [Credit: Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman]

 

 

 

 

As adversaries continue to expand the use of cruise missiles, drone swarms, and other advanced aerial threats, Raid Hunter has been designed to close a critical gap in short-range layered defense. Northrop Grumman says its the system provides "scalable, resilient, and cost-effective protection against the increasingly complex aerial threats facing today's warfighters."

We're introducing Raid Hunter™, our newly named 50mm gun-based air defense system designed to defeat mass, mixed aerial raids with cost-effective interceptors and deep magazine effectors which can be delivered to the warfighter at scale. Learn more: https://t.co/gnOzpo0RA3 pic.twitter.com/oTqORTG9Q4

" Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) August 11, 2026

Raid Hunter is optimized to defeat large quantities of aerial threats that would traditionally saturate defense. Its modular palletized form factor enables rapid, versatile deployment options, and future vehicle-mounted and container-based configurations will expand operational use cases.

The Raid Hunter system combines proven Chain Gun technology, precision-guided 50-mm ammunition, and a networked, interoperable system controller to deliver powerful protection against high-volume, mixed-threat aerial raids. It is designed to defeat a range of aerial threats including high-priority cruise missile threats, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and other advanced threats. Instead of relying on gas or recoil from a cartridge, the Chain Gun technology uses an external electric motor and a chain drive to cycle the action, which separates the firing mechanism from the power of individual cartridges and allows it to clear misfires instantly. The selectable or cyclic rate of fire for the XM913 Chain Gun is 100 or 200 rounds per minute depending on the operational mode. The effective range is over 4 km, depending on ammo. Launched in small salvos, the munitions "execute multiple continuous inflight maneuvers to enhance lethality and overmatch on the battlefield," says the company.

The system plugs into existing air, missile, and national defense networks to enable shared situational awareness, common targeting data, and synchronized engagements against complex, mass raids.

According to the company, the guided 50-mm ammunition combined with a high-rate-of-fire Chain Gun "delivers lethal, cost-considerate engagement with deep magazines and fast reloads, tackling the economic challenge of massed swarming threats." The Raid Hunter system is built to deploy with speed and flexibility through a modular design for rapid transportation on the C-130, with future vehicle-mounted and container-based variants planned.

Key stats from Northrop Grumman

• Cannon battery cost ~50% less than missile batteries
• Cost per effect ~99.5% less than interceptor missile
• Large quantity of stowed rounds >300 rounds
• Battery's effective ready magazine is ~10x to 15x larger than missile systems
• Substantially smaller resupply demand ~28x to 39x
• Easier to transport ammunition than missile interceptors.

Northrop Grumman is continuing to collaborate closely with government and allied partners to mature Raid Hunter's capabilities. Planned testing throughout the year will further validate system performance and support accelerated fielding.

Raid Hunter is a key system in Northrop Grumman's portfolio of counter-UAS and air defense capabilities, known as Raid Defense Solutions. Raid Defense Solutions is Northrop Grumman's advanced, scalable portfolio of layered kinetic capabilities designed to protect critical assets from increasingly complex and high-volume aerial threats, including coordinated drone swarms. By integrating proven fielded programs, AI-enabled command and control, sensor fusion, and high-rate firepower, this family of solutions will enable faster detection, smarter decision-making and coordinated engagements across a wide range of operational scenarios.

Sources: Northrop Grumman, Wikipedia

Published August 2026

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