US Army wants to aggressively amass cheap rockets

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — While the U.S. Army has exquisite firepower with its costly long-range precision occurrence systems, it besides wants to amass inexpensive rockets to people drones oregon overwhelm an enemy.

“If you’re acquainted with the rocket pods we person for [guided aggregate motorboat rocket systems], I would similar to capable those rocket pods with 50 to 100 rockets,” Gen. James Rainey, Army Futures Command commander, said Tuesday astatine the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium successful Huntsville, Alabama. “What we could enactment successful that container … it’s not arsenic bully arsenic [guided aggregate motorboat rocket systems], but it tin sojourn a batch of hatred connected the force successful the close conditions.”

Rainey said the Army is engaging manufacture close present and is not conscionable talking to companies that marque rockets but manufacture that could disrupt manufacturing processes to physique thousands of rockets oregon companies that tin wide nutrient energetics, replacements for rocket motors oregon usage additive manufacturing to nutrient rapidly.

The work is moving quickly, Rainey noted.

“We don’t person a fewer years,” helium said, adding that the work has an emerging requirements document, which formalizes a caller request and jumpstarts development. “We’re asking companies to wide nutrient — successful the thousands — fires capabilities, counter-[unmanned craft systems] capabilities astatine a little terms point.”

Mass-producing rockets is 1 mode to tackle the outgo curve of countering drones, Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, programme enforcement serviceman for Missiles & Space, told Defense News successful an interrogation astatine Redstone Arsenal extracurricular Huntsville connected Wednesday.

One mode is to proceed to refine physics warfare technology. The different is to instrumentality retired drones similar the Iranian-developed Shahed loitering munition that costs implicit $5,000 a popular with inexpensive rocket systems. For example, the Army’s Hydra rocket costs astir $45,000 per system.

“You’re yet getting to a one-on-one,” helium said.

The work Program Executive Office Missile and Space is moving with Army Development Command’s Aviation and Missile Center and the Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team connected nonstop enactment fires technology. The Army is looking to person a low-cost rocket that tin beryllium enactment into a aggregate motorboat rocket system, oregon MLRS, household of munitions launcher, with 30 of those rockets with warheads that the work could wide “at a precise precocious complaint of fire” with a scope successful excess of 30 to 40 kilometers, Lozano said.

“We’re being precise assertive successful that country to effort to present capableness truthful that immoderate [large-scale combat operations] concern we find ourselves in, whether it’s [European Command] oregon Iranian oregon Korea fight, [Indo-Pacific Command] fight, we tin springiness the warfighter this mass, precocious complaint of occurrence capableness that they need,” Lozano said.

The Army is taking a caller look astatine its fiscal 2026 fund petition and its five-year backing plan, but erstwhile backing is allocated, the anticipation is to marque the effort a three- to five-year program, with much accent connected 3 years due to the fact that Army enactment wants rapid, assertive enactment to present capability, according to Lozano.

Industry is already looking astatine however it tin reply the telephone for ample amounts of inexpensive rockets. While Lockheed Martin is processing the Joint Reduced Range Rocket for grooming to regenerate the bequest strategy it besides builds, it is eyeing the imaginable to accommodate the rocket for different missions.

“We’re decidedly looking astatine [direct enactment fires technology] and however we could beryllium a rival successful that market,” Dave Griser, vice president of guided aggregate motorboat rocket systems astatine Lockheed Martin, told Defense News. “We deliberation we tin play determination successful presumption of however we produce, our accumulation and our acquisition that’s unsocial to [MLRS household of munitions] and what we do. We deliberation it’s a bully acceptable for us.”

The caller five-inch rocket has a modular payload and the tubes tin beryllium reused and reloaded successful the field, according to Griser.

The Army besides precocious chose Anduril Rocket Motor Systems to make a caller 4.75-inch coagulated rocket centrifugal for long-range precision rocket artillery.