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U.S. Tests Containerized Missile to Expand Low-Cost Land and Maritime Precision Strike Capacity

 The U.S. Department of War live-fired a Low-Cost Containerized Missile at White Sands Missile Range on August 19, moving the LCCM program from acquisition planning into operational testing. The effort is intended to support the procurement of roughly 10,000 lower-cost cruise missiles starting in 2027 and to expand U.S. capacity for distributed land and maritime strike. The launch took place during the J-REX 26.3 experimentation event and tested a program centered on containerized weapons capable of engaging both ground and naval targets. Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos, and Zone 5 Technologies are competing under the LCCM framework, with candidate systems including Anduril’s Surface-Launched Barracuda-500M, which has a stated range exceeding 500 nautical miles and can be carried in a 20-foot ISO container holding up to 16 missiles. The current test campaign will assess weapon maturity, survivability, and operational suitability before a Military Utility Assessment and planned large-scale procurement beginning in fiscal year 2027. Read more. 

Anduril Surface-Launched Barracuda-500M cruise missile system developed for the U.S. Low-Cost Containerized Missiles program. (Picture source: Anduril)


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