New Northrop Grumman video offers first unobstructed view of the Vanguard-based uncrewed aircraft that will support AI and autonomy development.
On Jul. 22, 2025, Northrop Grumman released a new video featuring the company’s second quarter 2025 highlights. Among the footage (that include the B-2, the B-21 and the Golden Dome – the proposed multi-layer defense system for the United States) is the first full view of the Beacon autonomous testbed aircraft outside the hangar, offering the clearest look yet at the platform Northrop is using to validate AI-driven mission autonomy software.
Beacon, first unveiled on June 18, 2025, is part of a larger testbed ecosystem designed to accelerate development and testing of uncrewed and optionally crewed mission autonomy. The aircraft used in the program is based on the Model 437 Vanguard, a twin-engine, optionally-piloted platform developed by Scaled Composites and modified by Northrop Grumman for autonomous operations.
In previous imagery, the Beacon aircraft was only seen inside a hangar or partially obscured. Some close up images showed the V-tail of the aircraft with the “Beacon” markings. The new video provides a brief, complete view of the aircraft on the ramp at dusk. No surprises of course, considering its shape was very well known: the aircraft features mid-mounted swept wings with trapezoidal inboard panels, a conventional fuselage, and a distinctive V-tail.
As reported in our previous article on the Beacon, the aircraft is not intended for operational service but serves as a flexible airborne test platform to support experimentation with new autonomy stacks, collaborative combat behaviors, and adaptive mission software. It is designed to integrate third-party mission autonomy software with Northrop Grumman’s existing flight software and airframe control systems.
According to the details released by Northrop Grumman when Beacon was unveiled, the aircraft offers an open-access development environment that allows external partners, including startups and non-traditional defense companies, to test their autonomy solutions in a realistic, flight-validated setting. The goal is to shorten development cycles and reduce integration risk before deploying software onto operational platforms.
We’ve unveiled Beacon: an autonomous testbed ecosystem that will lead the way toward cutting edge mission autonomy capabilities. Learn more: https://t.co/F2Dt1zqfOH pic.twitter.com/qxkMuOpLhA
— Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) June 18, 2025
“Beacon is sixth-generation autonomous software development,” said Tom Jones, president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. “It’s backed by our decades of leadership in designing and building operational autonomous aircraft, and it’s serving as a bridge across industry to significantly reduce the time and cost it takes to bring new autonomous mission capabilities to our customers.”
Northrop Grumman has confirmed that flight demonstrations with Beacon are planned for this year, although no specific timeline has been disclosed. With multiple partners reportedly involved in the ecosystem, Beacon is expected to serve as a central node in a broader autonomy prototyping strategy that aligns with U.S. Department of Defense goals for open architectures and rapid technology adoption.
While it is not formally linked to the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program or Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiative, the Beacon ecosystem could support autonomy development relevant to both. By separating software validation from full airframe development, Northrop aims to fast-track autonomous capabilities that can later be ported to production platforms.
Whether Beacon remains solely a test platform or serves as a pathfinder for future low-observable uncrewed systems remains to be seen, but its “public rollout” on social media, points to growing confidence in both its maturity and strategic relevance.
We’ll continue to follow Beacon’s development as flight testing progresses and further details emerge.
