Northrop Grumman Tern

The Northrop Grumman Tern is an unmanned aircraft program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research. Its full name, Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node, describes the aim: to make forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates more effective by letting them serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned aerial systems, which are to carry 600 pounds (270 kg) of ordnance to conduct combat strikes. The two agencies signed a memorandum of agreement officially naming the project Tern in May 2014, the program culminated in successful conceptual design reviews in the summer of 2014, and in October 2015 it completed its Phase II preliminary design review. Northrop Grumman won the contract to develop the project in December 2015 with a tail-sitter, flying wing aircraft that has twin nose-mounted contra-rotating propellers.