Source: Lockheed Martin
Reuters reports that Lockheed Martin is unveiling a $150,000 cruise missile with a 500-mile range, part of its “affordable mass” strategy to deter Chinese actions in the Pacific. The modular missile will have air and maritime strike versions, offering a cost-effective alternative to pricier weapons like the AGM-158. This launch follows the success of the Rapid Dragon Program, which demonstrated agile missile deployment, further supporting U.S. defense efforts in the Indo-Pacific. They write:
Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab plans to unveil a new “affordable” cruise missile on Monday with a cost of about $150,000 and a range of over 500 miles (800 km) as the defense contractor works to tap a U.S. need to deter Chinese ambitions in the Pacific.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed U.S. and other countries’ thinking about armaments toward a new strategy known as “affordable mass,” meaning having plenty of relatively cheap weapons at the ready. […]
The Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT) missile concept is a new product that aims to develop a family of low-cost modular weapons from Lockheed and its partners’ existing catalog of components. […]
If the Pentagon decides to buy the new offering, Callaway said Lockheed could make 2,500 a year – once a production line was running.
CMMT is “a subsonic, low-cost, long-range cruise missile,” Callaway said. Its low-cost turbine engines cannot, however, compete with cruise missiles such as Lockheed’s AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.
The JASSM is a 1,000-pound missile costing over $1.5 million per item.[…]
Callaway said Lockheed Martin was aiming to sell the basic air vehicle for $150,000 per unit, which it considered competitive.
The United States is amassing an arsenal of abundant and easily-made anti-ship weapons as part of efforts to push back against Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
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