Northrop Grumman presents ‘future of deep sensing’ for U.S. Army

05 Sep 2023

To identify, monitor, target, and strike military threats remotely with greater precision.

The CRJ-700 jet used at EDGE ’23.

Aerospace and defense technology systems developer Northrop Grumman has demonstrated its Deep-Sensing and Targeting (DSaT) platform at the Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event “EDGE ’23”), hosted by the U.S. Army.

The company this week reported how during a “simulated, real-world tactical scenario”, it was able to successfully gather and combine multi-domain data for rapid dissemination to a Tactical Operations Center.

Variety of sensors

On board the experimental aircraft, using a variety of sensing technologies the researchers collected and analyzed data from commercial satellites and “met 100 per cent of the criteria for the experiment”.

Pablo Pezzimenti, VP, integrated national systems, at Northrop Grumman, commented, “Our groundbreaking technology can help the U.S. Army realize its vision of deep-sensing with the ability to remotely identify, monitor, target and strike threats from greater distances and with greater precision.

“We are supporting the warfighter’s targeting needs with intelligence collection beyond line of site and leveraging aerial assets in providing multi-domain fused data directly to the front lines,” said Pezzimenti.

The CRJ-700 jet (pictured) was employed at EDGE ’23 in Yuma, Arizona, to demonstrate DSaT’s multi-domain deep sensing architecture. The DSaT capabilities are integrated into a civilian aircraft, providing intelligence collection that can reach beyond the visual line of sight of local sensors.

While leveraging elements of Northrop Grumman’s Titan pre-prototype system, its capabilities combine space-based geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) imagery with aerial and terrestrial intelligence from commercial and military space systems.

Northrop Grumman’s statement added, “The Phase 1 testing successfully demonstrated the GEOINT capabilities with future phases planned to incorporate multiple intelligence platforms.”