Overview
- Boeing says its Ultra Low-Cost Seeker (ULCS) completed a summer test campaign that validated basic detection, tracking and survivability in chamber, captive‑carry and surrogate‑rocket trials.
- A seeker is the radar sensor mounted in a weapon’s nose that finds and guides the weapon to its target; Boeing developed ULCS as an active radar seeker that emits its own signal.
- Boeing unveiled the design publicly at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium and highlighted a modular, open‑architecture approach that lets one sensor be reused across different weapons.
- The company plans multiple, more realistic flight tests in 2027 to further mature the seeker but has not disclosed funding sources or concrete per‑unit cost figures.
- The effort responds to Pentagon pressure for cheaper, higher‑volume munitions and follows similar modular sensor moves by competitors such as Lockheed and Northrop, which could ease production bottlenecks for guided weapons.