Northrop Grumman Precision Grenadier System

History

On October 12, 2026, Northrop Grumman and Barrett Firearms announced a teaming agreement at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in Washington. Under the agreement, Barrett will manufacture the weapon at its Nashville, Tennessee facility and integrate the inductive setter that programs the 25mm ammunition. Northrop Grumman will continue to lead development of the overall system and its ammunition family.

The design builds on Northrop Grumman's experience with the XM25, a 25mm airburst weapon the company inherited through its 2018 purchase of Orbital ATK, which U.S. Army units tested in combat in Afghanistan before that program ended in 2018. The U.S. Army launched the Precision Grenadier System effort to replace the M203 and M320 40mm grenade launchers carried by infantry squads with a semi-automatic, magazine-fed weapon combining the launcher, smart ammunition, and a digital fire-control sight. Northrop Grumman earlier developed its 25mm launcher with Colt before selecting Barrett to manufacture the weapon.

Specifications

The Precision Grenadier System is a shoulder-fired, semi-automatic 25mm grenade launcher weighing less than 5.4 kilograms. It feeds from a five-round detachable box magazine and incorporates a digital fire-control sight. An inductive setter programs each round with the distance at which it should detonate before it leaves the barrel.

The 25mm ammunition family includes a high-explosive airburst (HEAB) round with a programmable dual-warhead explosive configuration capable of detonating in flight or upon impact, a proximity round that senses a nearby drone and detonates without programming, a close-quarters battle round, and a training round ballistically matched to the combat rounds.

Program Status

As of the October 2026 announcement, Northrop Grumman is continuing prototyping and ammunition development with Barrett. The U.S. Army plans to turn the Precision Grenadier System into a formal acquisition program and award a prototype agreement. Northrop Grumman is offering the weapon to both U.S. and international customers. Neither company has announced production volumes, a delivery schedule, or a confirmed procurement contract.