SRC Supplies New Gryphon™ R1810 Radar for Northrop Grumman’s Raid Hunter™ System

New radar builds on SRC’s Gryphon technology to provide longer-range tracking and precision fire control for Northrop Grumman’s weapon system

Syracuse, NY, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SRC, Inc. ("SRC" or "Company"), a global, not-for-profit, defense research and development company, today announced that it developed its new Gryphon™ R1810 radar for Northrop Grumman’s Raid Hunter™, a gun-based air defense system designed to protect military bases, airfields and critical infrastructure from aerial threats, including coordinated drone swarms.

In Raid Hunter, the R1810 is designed to track incoming threats and the munitions fired to intercept them, supporting precision fire control throughout an engagement. Northrop Grumman’s system combines networked control, Bushmaster® Chain Gun®  technology and guided 50mm ammunition to address high-volume aerial attacks. Drone swarms challenge defenses built around individual engagements, making accurate tracking across repeated engagements essential to protecting forces and critical sites. 

The R1810 grew out of SRC’s work with Northrop Grumman on M-ACE, which uses SRC’s Gryphon R1410 radar. As Northrop Grumman developed Raid Hunter, it turned to SRC again for a radar that could meet the new system’s fire control requirements. The teams initially considered the R1540, but Raid Hunter called for greater range and accuracy. SRC scaled the Gryphon radar architecture to develop the R1810 for that mission, going from inception to functional prototype in only six months.

“Defending our forces against drones, particularly when many threats arrive at once, is one of the most urgent challenges facing the U.S. military and its allies,” said Kevin Hair, president and CEO of SRC. “Our work on Raid Hunter reflects the depth of SRC’s counter-UAS radar expertise and the trust Northrop Grumman has placed in our team. As Raid Hunter’s radar provider, we developed the R1810 to deliver the precise, longer-range tracking this system needs to help protect service members and critical assets.”

The R1810 uses the same core electronics and antenna array modules as SRC’s Gryphon R1540, with eight subarrays per panel instead of four. This larger aperture provides greater detection range and accuracy while allowing SRC to build on an established radar architecture rather than start from scratch. It is a larger radar developed for a more demanding fire control need, grounded in technology SRC has already designed and produced for other missions.

The R1810 is designed to detect Group 1 unmanned aircraft systems at up to 21.6 kilometers and Group 3 systems at up to 49.4 kilometers, compared with 12.7 and 30.2 kilometers, respectively, for the R1540. Its single-panel configuration can be paired with a turreted weapon to track both a target and the munition fired during an engagement.

The radar can also be configured with four panels to provide 360-degree surveillance for other missions. The R1810 joins SRC’s Gryphon family of radars, which includes systems for air surveillance, counter-UAS operations and precision fire control. SRC’s R1540 remains an option for missions that do not require the R1810’s additional range and accuracy. Together, the radars give defense customers options for detecting and tracking threats across different ranges, platforms and missions, from broader surveillance to the precision fire control required by systems such as Raid Hunter.

Key highlights:

• Northrop Grumman is integrating SRC’s new Gryphon R1810 radar into Raid Hunter, a gun-based air defense system designed to counter high-volume aerial threats.
• In its Raid Hunter configuration, the R1810 is designed to track incoming threats and fired munitions, supporting precision fire control throughout multiple simultaneous engagements.
• SRC developed the R1810 by scaling the proven electronics and antenna technology behind its Gryphon family of systems to meet requirements for greater range and accuracy. The program builds on SRC’s earlier radar work with Northrop Grumman on M-ACE and demonstrates how the Gryphon radar family can be adapted for a range of missions, including counter-UAS, air surveillance and precision fire control.

About SRC
SRC, Inc. (@SRCDefense), a not-for-profit research and development company, combines information, science, technology and ingenuity to solve “impossible” problems in the areas of defense, environment and intelligence. Across a family of companies, SRC applies bright minds, fresh thinking and relentless determination to deliver innovative products and services that are redefining possible® for the challenges faced by America and its allies.

Since 1957, SRC's commitment to the customer and the best solution — not the bottom line — has remained a core value that guides its efforts. This passion for quality carries through to the technologies the company invents and manufactures, the laboratories and facilities it builds, the people they hire, and communities where they work. Today, more than 1,400 engineers, scientists and professionals work together at SRC to protect people, the environment and our way of life.

Attachments

• Northrop Grumman Raid Hunter™ with the Gryphon™ R1810 Radar
• Gryphon™ R1810 Radar

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