US Air Force turns to cheaper cruise missiles it can buy by the thousands

[rangerrebew]

US Air Force turns to cheaper cruise missiles it can buy by the thousands
By Michael Scanlon
 Jul 15, 2026, 03:48 PM

 
The Pentagon is moving to buy thousands of affordable cruise missiles, reaching framework agreements with three companies on Wednesday.

The deals fall under the U.S. Air Force’s Family of Affordable Mass Missiles program, or FAMM. The Defense Department said it reached agreements with Anduril for its Barracuda-500, CoAspire for its Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile and Zone 5 Technologies for its Rusty Dagger.


The move boils down to cost-effectiveness. The Air Force is betting that low-cost weapons can do the work the service once reserved for far more expensive munitions.

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, designed to be fired at heavily defended targets from a safe distance, cost more than $1.3 million apiece. The service wants its new missiles for a fraction of that, closer to $218,000 per round, cheap enough to shoot many for less than it once cost to shoot one.

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2026/07/15/us-air-force-turns-to-cheaper-cruise-missiles-it-can-buy-by-the-thousand/

[rangerrebew]

Doesn't more of them mean this will create more global warming - - - - unless they're electric?

[DefiantMassRINO]

They should be at least Net-Zero compliant and EPA EnergyStar certified.  We can't have cruise missile chemtrails killing Mother Gaia.

[rangerrebew]

They should be at least Net-Zero compliant and EPA EnergyStar certified.  We can't have cruise missile chemtrails killing Mother Gaia.

We need to set an example for Russia and China, oh, and Iran.

[Cyber Liberty]

They can make them as low cost as they want, just as long as they can find their way to bridges and power plants!