The United States Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth approximately $100 million to keep the GQM-163A Coyote supersonic target missile program in operation through 2031.
Unlike an operational weapon, the Coyote was designed to serve as a target during training exercises. According to the website Defence Blog, the system is used in live-fire drills to simulate anti-ship missile attacks similar to those developed by countries such as China and Russia.
According to the Navy, the GQM-163A is the only sea-skimming supersonic target missile produced in the United States. It can fly at more than Mach 2.5 just four meters above the sea surface, simulating the attack profile used by anti-ship missiles such as China’s YJ-12 and Russia’s P-800 Oniks. The system can also perform high-speed dives from high altitudes to reproduce other types of modern threats.
The contract includes not only the supply of the targets, but also flight trajectory planning, technical support and launch preparation. These activities are considered essential for creating realistic combat scenarios and evaluating the performance of radars, interceptors and shipborne defense systems.
According to the report, the program has gained importance as China and Russia have expanded their anti-ship missile arsenals. For the US Navy, maintaining training with targets capable of replicating these threats is essential to ensuring fleet readiness in the face of potential high-intensity conflicts.
Source and images: Northrop Grumman. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
