WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is set to announce on Wednesday framework agreements that position it to potentially acquire over 10,000 low-cost, containerized missiles over three years starting in 2027.
A statement seen by Reuters ahead of its release said that the Pentagon’s agreements are with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5, and will together launch the “Low-Cost Containerized Munitions (LCCM) program.”
The assessment phase of the program will involve purchasing test missiles from all four companies starting in June 2026. The statement did not provide a cost or specify the weapons systems from the four firms, but said the agreements established the terms for future firm-fixed-price production contracts.
The Army has long touted containerized weapons systems as a low-cost, mobile way to deploy missiles in standard shipping containers.
A separate agreement with defense startup Castelion lays out a plan to award a two-year contract for a minimum annual purchase of 500 Blackbeard missiles, which are Castelion’s first hypersonic strike weapon, once Castelion achieves testing and validation, the statement said.
