Overview
- Auriga Space announced a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Army’s DEVCOM Armaments Center to research electromagnetic (EM) accelerators for counter‑UAS roles.
- The company says the system uses magnetic levitation to remove bore friction and electricity instead of solid chemical propellants to fire high‑speed, repeatable interceptors.
- Under the CRADA both parties will share data and map a development path toward a fieldable, containerized launcher that the company plans to make mobile for frontline deployment.
- The initiative is driven by the high cost of using conventional missiles against cheap, mass-produced drones and by U.S. propellant supply limits, but the work remains in R&D with no operational system yet.
- Auriga’s long-term aim remains building multi-kilometer EM tracks for satellite launches, making the counter‑drone project a nearer-term, dual-use application of its existing tests and Pentagon contracts.