us startup launches ultra-low-cost cruise missile
2024-09-13
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conceptual image of a low-cost cruise missile. image courtesy of ares industries, inc.
comprehensive compilation zhang guiyu
due to the us military operations in the middle east and its support for ukraine, its long-range ammunition inventory is shrinking. the us military's demand to "manufacture standoff weapons in large quantities at the lowest possible cost" has attracted a number of small and medium-sized enterprises to get involved in weapons research and development with new ideas.
according to the us "war zone" website, the us military is paying more and more attention to low-cost long-range precision-guided weapons, mainly because the us military's combat readiness focus has shifted to responding to "high-end conflicts", in which case ammunition consumption may surge in a short period of time. in the past few months, after several exchanges of fire with the houthi armed forces in yemen, the us military has further reached a consensus: relying solely on a few big-name contractors can no longer meet the rapidly increasing demand for ammunition supply, and more small and medium-sized enterprises must be mobilized.
against this backdrop, a startup called ares industries recently announced that less than 11 weeks after its founding, it has begun testing a compact, low-cost anti-ship cruise missile prototype it developed. according to a press release issued by the company in mid-august, the size and price of this missile is only one-tenth of the traditional model, but it has the combat effectiveness expected by the us department of defense. the new missile is compatible with the us military's existing launch platforms and can be projected at high subsonic speeds to destroy sea targets hundreds of miles away. ares industries is currently focusing on developing versions launched from the ground and ships, and plans to launch an airborne model in the next step to expand its range and provide more combat payload options.
as usual, there will be some differences between the model used for preliminary testing and the final mass-produced version. the renderings released by the company show that this low-cost missile adopts a stealth design, with a clear fold line at the front of the missile body, and pop-up main wings and tail fins. in terms of overall impression, it is similar to the current stealth cruise missiles and some unmanned aerial vehicles, especially the "speed racer" air-launched drone launched by lockheed martin in the united states.
ares industries has not yet announced detailed hardware parameters, but has emphasized that the unit cost target for the missile is $300,000. in comparison, the unit price of the agm-158c long-range anti-ship missile (lrasm), one of the reference objects in the development process, is as high as $3 million. other similar missiles in service, such as the tomahawk (including the upcoming improved anti-ship version), the naval strike missile and the harpoon, are mostly purchased at prices between $1 million and $2 million.
ares said it expects to deliver the low-cost missile system in mid-2025, and stressed that future "high-end conflicts" that may occur are different from those in ukraine and the middle east, and long-range anti-ship missiles will become a crucial weapon, but the united states is not ready yet. "our inventory will be exhausted in a few weeks, and we do not have enough industrial capacity to win the war."
the war zone analyzed that, based on historical experience, the united states launched a total of 800 tomahawk missiles when it invaded iraq in 2003. at the current production rate, it will take 10 years to replenish so many missiles. another problem is that the weight and size of existing missiles are too large. they were originally designed to deal with solid targets such as large ships, but in the modern battlefield environment, navies of various countries have begun to equip unmanned ships. in most cases, it is obviously not cost-effective to use a missile worth $3 million to destroy an unmanned boat worth $200,000.
since october 2023, the us military action against the houthi armed forces in yemen to protect the safety of shipping in the red sea, as well as the defensive measures taken by israel in april this year to resist iranian missile and drone attacks, have triggered strong concerns about the rapid consumption of ammunition and insufficient replenishment capacity. the associated press recently quoted military sources as saying that the "eisenhower" aircraft carrier battle group consumed a total of 153 "tomahawk" missiles while performing missions in the area around the red sea; and in the upcoming fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, the us navy only plans to purchase 181 missiles of this type in the next five years.
the conflicts in the middle east and ukraine have highlighted the problem that the u.s. military's current long-range weapons are too bulky and expensive. in the envisioned "high-end conflict", the u.s. military will face increasingly complex "anti-access" and "regional denial" operations, and the demand for long-range strike means such as low-cost cruise missiles will soar. even if the cost factor is put aside, compact air-launched weapons still have unique advantages because they can be installed in the internal weapons bay of stealth aircraft, thereby enhancing the aircraft's strike capability and concealment.
the u.s. military realized that when facing tens of thousands of targets in a vast combat area, it did not need to use all expensive heavy ammunition to deal with them. according to the u.s. pentagon website, in june this year, the pentagon's defense innovation department, in cooperation with the u.s. air force, selected four companies to build and demonstrate the so-called "enterprise test vehicle", a prototype of a cheap cruise missile that can also be used as a low-cost platform for conducting electronic warfare or acting as a decoy.
in addition, the pentagon is currently promoting a program codenamed "replicator" with the goal of helping the us armed forces deploy thousands of unmanned weapon systems with autonomous combat capabilities by 2026. the plan also includes helping allies gain "affordable" long-range strike capabilities and using these countries' military industrial capacity to meet us needs. in july this year, the us air force announced that it would provide ukraine with a low-cost long-range strike means, a 225 kg precision-guided munition launched from the air with a maximum range of 400 kilometers.
the war zone said that the u.s. navy, marine corps and army are increasingly interested in lower-cost, longer-range strike capabilities, which are mainly used to deal with threats from the sea and land. to this end, the u.s. military not only needs to accelerate the research and development of new ammunition, but also needs to improve production efficiency and reduce costs as much as possible. although some options are attractive, it will still take several years from signing a contract to mass production and delivery due to limited production capacity of high-tech components.
source: china youth daily client
