Northrop Grumman on Aug. 11 formally introduced Raid Hunter, the production name for its 50mm Gun-Based Air Defense (GBAD) system, designed to counter drone swarms, cruise missiles and other high-volume aerial raids at military bases, airfields and critical infrastructure.

Raid Hunter pairs the company’s Bushmaster Chain Gun with precision-guided 50mm ammunition and a networked, interoperable system controller built on Northrop Grumman’s AiON command-and-control software. The company says the guided round can execute multiple in-flight maneuvers to improve engagement against aerial threats, and that the gun’s high rate of fire, deep magazines and rapid reloads are intended to counter massed attacks without expending large volumes of unguided ammunition.

Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager for command and control and weapons integration at Northrop Grumman, told reporters the system is meant to defeat threats without firing “a wall of lead,” contrasting it with existing short-range defenses that rely on high volumes of unguided projectiles.

The system is designed to be platform-agnostic and transportable aboard C-130 aircraft in a palletized configuration, with vehicle-mounted and container-based variants planned. Northrop Grumman conducted a test firing of the system in early July at Dahlgren, Virginia, in which 36 rounds were fired from an XM913 Bushmaster chain gun while the company captured video and performance data. The company says it is working with government and allied partners to mature Raid Hunter and plans additional testing through 2026 to support accelerated fielding.

Raid Hunter sits within Northrop Grumman’s Raid Defense Solutions portfolio, which the company describes as combining kinetic systems with AI-enabled command and control and sensor fusion for layered defense against high-volume aerial threats. Northrop Grumman has not disclosed public specifications for the system’s sensors, tracking performance, engagement ranges or external system interfaces.