24 September 2024

Can Low-Cost Weapons Save the U.S. from Running Out of Missiles in the Next War?

SΓ©bastien Roblin

Defense company Anduril unveiled a new family of cruise missile weapons called Barracuda in mid-September, which it began developing on its own initiative. The company says that all three significant variants have already been flight-tested. The current focus is on subsystem development and funding the company’s planned ‘hyper-production’ facility.

Barracuda is pitched as a “low cost but performant,” weapon that is “…simple to manufacture, software-designed, mass producible,” the company’s Chief Strategy Officer Chris Brose said at a press briefing. The public unveiling was accompanied by anime-inspired promotional video, see above.

Low-Cost Weapons: What Washington Needs for the Next War?

Does the U.S. military need the very best weapons money can buy—or the most cost-effective ones it can quickly build in quantity? As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine voraciously consumes munition supplies across the planet, many argue it’s time to tilt in the latter direction.