Overview
- The Army selected Lockheed Martin and a Boeing–Anduril team to advance to Phase 2 of the IFPC Increment 2 second-interceptor competition, a decision confirmed by the service on Sept. 10.
- Phase 2 will fund detailed design, system development, integration and a competitive demonstration that must validate each interceptor against Army performance requirements.
- Boeing says its entry pairs the company’s seeker and a compact airframe with a solid rocket motor from Anduril and uses a Modular Open Systems Architecture to let components be upgraded without redesigning the whole missile.
- Anduril is highlighting its Mississippi Solid Rocket Motor Complex, which it says was built with more than $100 million of private capital plus $58 million in Defense Production Act funding to expand U.S. propulsion capacity for potential mass production.
- The program responds to Army findings that the current Enduring Shield solution, which fires a ground-launched AIM-9X, needs a second, more capable interceptor to counter low-flying cruise missiles and massed weaponized drones.