WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s hunt for cheaper, mass-produced munitions has led to a flurry of interest in new designs. Now, a top Lockheed Martin executive tells Breaking Defense that his company is exploring ways for existing systems to fill the need, whether by introducing new technologies or scaling back certain features.
Lockheed has already introduced a lower-cost air vehicle called CMMT, but other platforms manufactured by the defense giant like the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and ship-killing Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) could be adapted to “achieve the aim” of an affordable mass of munitions, the company’s Missiles and Fire Control President Tim Cahill said on the sidelines of the annual AUSA conference in Washington last week.
“We have really capable systems, like JASSM for example, that [are] already qualified on a whole bunch of airframes and can actually be turned into a modular system that could grow or shrink,” Cahill said, pointing to potential changes like “less expensive or exquisite” guidance components, additive manufacturing, and ditching special coating that makes the missile stealthy.
“We’re going to come at this from a number of different angles. We’re working with a number of different new entrants and others to see what would be some enabling technologies,” Cahill said. “I would say we’re going to play in this space, but we haven’t necessarily settled on a final design or a final approach. CMMT is clearly integral to all of that but may not be the only solution for what we bring to bear.”
The Trump administration is using various levers to surge munitions production, from big plus-ups in the Pentagon’s annual budget to extra funds provided by reconciliation spending and unfunded priority lists. When it comes to the JASSM and LRASM specifically, which share a common airframe, the Pentagon says it wants to double its production rate from 1,100 to 2,200 rounds per year by fiscal 2030.
The munitions supply chain has struggled in recent years, buffeted first by the covid pandemic and then by a surge of demand driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Cahill said suppliers can largely support ambitious production goals. Still, “I would say they need help.”
Specifically, he said that added capacity is needed through multiple suppliers both at home and abroad, and that “complex” parts like solid rocket motors and seekers are components he’s “always concerned about.” Other factors, such as acquiring sufficient raw materials like titanium are also “always a struggle.”
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“We have … active discussions with the US government on what the right rates to go to are,” Cahill said, “to ensure that there are robust plans to make sure that whatever ramps the government asks us to go on that, we’re capable” of delivering.
The Pentagon’s push for more munitions, particularly those that are less pricey, includes air and missile defense systems, where traditional, expensive platforms like the Patriot produced by RTX and Lockheed have been in extraordinarily high demand but face the losing end of the cost curve. Asked what lower-cost options Lockheed is offering for air defense, Cahill flashed a grin, stating that he was reluctant to discuss specifics details because of the “highly competitive” nature of the market.
“We are actively looking at everything from little, tiny, cheap interceptors” up to more sophisticated ones, he said, underscoring the potential for kinetic and non-kinetic solutions that he said will likely be needed for the foreseeable future. Still, Cahill emphasized that high-end threats likely won’t be going away, requiring the need for interceptors with greater performance as well.
“There’s going to continue to be those really difficult targets that are going to get increasingly deadly. They’re going to get increasingly maneuverable, they’re going to get increasingly hardened, pick your thing,” he said. “We have got to be able to hit those too.”