DOD builds framework for faster development and deployment of cruise missiles
A pair of Tomahawk cruise missiles in flight. Gettyimages.com/Erik Simonsen
By
Nick Wakeman
Agreements with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5 help show the Defense Department's willingness to work with new entrants.
The Defense Department has signed new agreements with four companies to get approximately lower-cost cruise missiles into the field over the next three years.
DOD announced Wednesday that Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5 are participating in the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles program with the department calling all of them “new entrants and commercial innovators.”
Initial testing and experimentation will begin this spring with production eyed to start in 2027.
A separate agreement has been signed with Castelion to test and validate the Blackbeard missile. Once the test phase is completed, DOD plans to order at least 500 missiles annually under a two-year base contract that has three individual option years.
DOD's driving idea behind the contracts is to rapidly field more missiles.
“In concert with establishing a clear demand signal, these framework agreements commit American industry to on-time, on-cost delivery and investment in (research-and-development) and facilities,” said Emil Michael, defense undersecretary for research and engineering.
DOD wants to expand the munitions industrial base and shows a commitment to “scalable pathways that can surge when needed,” the department said.
The agreements are part of DOD’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy to buy and field systems faster.
“We are moving beyond traditional prime contractors to expand our industrial base, accelerating testing timelines, and sending a clear, long-term demand signal to innovative new entrants,” said Michael Duffey, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.