The 416th Flight Test Squadron recently completed a round of tests of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s “Gray Wolf” prototype cruise missile at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Gray Wolf is a DoD-directed prototype production and demonstration of low-cost, subsonic and networked collaborative cruise missiles. The missiles are designed to launch in a swarm to target enemy integrated air defense threats.
The missiles offer a stand-off solution for the warfighter through its variable payload capability. Earlier this year, the Gray Wolf’s TDI-J85 engine completed a successful flight test campaign culminating in multiple inflight windmill starts and operation at high altitude.
The program has already reached certain test milestones: Electromagnetic Interference & Compatibility (EMIC) and a “captive carry” flight. A live release test at the Naval Air Station Point Mugu Sea Test Range is scheduled later this summer.
“The EMIC check is ground check to confirm the missile is okay to fly on our specific test aircraft,” Most explained. “A captive-carry flight is the first flight with the weapon; the goal is to rehearse the weapon flight profile and gather critical state/environmental data about the weapon.”
Most added that the importance of successfully conducting physical tests, as opposed to laboratory-simulated, provides the Gray Wolf team with invaluable critical data.
AFRL & Industry team successfully demonstrates first ever 200-lb thrust class low-cost engine
The Air Force Research Laboratory working with Northrop Grumman and Technical Directions Inc. (TDI) recently tested a first-of-its-kind, low-cost turbojet engine under the low-cost cruise missile program known as Gray Wolf. The TDI-J85 engine underwent a successful flight test campaign culminating in multiple inflight engine starts and operation at high altitude. The engine met performance expectations for thrust and surpassed fuel efficiency expectations.
Gray Wolf is an Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) directed prototype production and demonstration of low-cost cruise missile. These low-cost cruise missiles will offer a stand-off solution with a variable payload capability, meaning the missiles are designed to cruise for distances greater than 250 nautical miles and can accommodate multiple mission profiles. Additionally, the program explored using multiple Gray Wolf missiles in a networked swarm to meet an evolving warfighter mission requirement.
AFRL and our partners will utilize the recent flight test data to integrate the TDI-J85 engine into the Gray Wolf Flight Test vehicles. As part of the weapon system integration and demonstration phase, the team will modify and verify the interfacing operating software, perform captive flight test, and conduct a missile release test to demonstrate the low cost cruise missile concept.
United States Air Force
Acquisition
Annual Report 2018
Open Seeker Architecture
AFRL successfully developed and published the Open Seeker Architecture v1.0 standard, and the first Software Development Kit to support single weapon integration. This new architecture enables extensions to collaborative GPS-denied navigation and cooperative target acquisitions, and is a critical aspect of rapidly upgrading software functionality in future weapon seekers, as well as breaking “vendor lock” on legacy weapon seeker solutions. Some of these future open-standard concepts have been developed for the Gray Wolf Cruise Missile S&T Demonstration, in conjunction with DARPA and Office of Naval Research.
Mr. Jack Blackhurst, Director, Plans and Programs Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory; Director, Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office
theoderich hat geschrieben: ↑Do 5. Feb 2026, 00:08Air Force advances standoff cruise missile program with live-fire test
The U.S. Air Force demonstrated a new benchmark, conducting a live-warhead test of a standoff cruise missile, known as Extended Range Attack Munition, on the Eglin Test and Training Range Jan. 21, less than 16 months from the program's initial contract award.
The event, which met all primary objectives including a full warhead detonation, gathered critical data to mature a new, cost-effective, long-range strike capability.
theoderich hat geschrieben: ↑Fr 29. Aug 2025, 02:07Ukraine – Air Delivered Munitions
The Government of Ukraine has requested to buy up to three thousand three hundred fifty (3,350) Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles and three thousand three hundred fifty (3,350) Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) (EGI) with Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM), Y-Code, or M-Code. The following non-MDE items will be included: missile containers; stoker pylons; component parts and support equipment; spare parts, consumables and accessories, and repair and return support; weapons software and support equipment; mission planning system hardware; classified software delivery and support; classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; transportation support; studies and surveys; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $825 million.
Ukraine will use funding from Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway and Foreign Military Financing from the United States for this purchase. The ERAM is an example of working together with our NATO allies to develop a capable and scalable system capable of being delivered on a fast timeline.
Im FPDS findet man etliche Aufträge für diese beiden Firmen zur Entwicklung des "Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) Prototype".
Und so sieht einer der Flugkörper real aus - die kommerzielle Bezeichnung ist Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM):
CoAspire is the prime contractor for the Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM). CoAspire’s goal is to disrupt the cruise missile market and provide customers with an affordable and capable cruise missile at a fraction of the cost of other air-launched cruise missiles. RAACM has successfully flown in tests, most recently in March 2025 launched from a fighter aircraft.
RAACM is an additively manufactured (3D printed) cruise missile the same physical size of the 500 lb. class MK-82 or GBU-38 bomb. By designing it for additive manufacturing, it requires no tooling during assembly, greatly reducing touch labor and cost.
RAACM has a wing, a turbojet engine, warhead and guidance package that accurately guides the RAACM to a target. RAACM can be integrated on any aircraft capable of carrying a GBU-38.
RAACM is modular and scalable. Modularity allows for the addition of capabilities to enhance survivability and lethality, to include quickly swapping out payloads. Larger variants in the design phase, whether air, land or sea-launched can travel hundreds of miles.
CoAspire has subcontractors in 26 states and two European countries providing the components to make this cruise missile extremely affordable, exportable, modular and lethal.
The ERAM program received a $14M competitive add in the HACD FY26 DoD Budget markup. The funding is on an Air Force RDT&E line for Future Advanced Weapon Analysis & Programs.
Published: Apr 24, 2025 - Los Angeles, California Divergent Delivers Affordable, Adaptable Cruise Missile Structures: Clean Sheet to First Flight in 16 Weeks
Today, Divergent Technologies, Inc. (Divergent) and CoAspire, LLC (CoAspire) announced the successful design, development, manufacture, and flight testing of CoAspire's Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM). The partnership between prime contractor, CoAspire, and Divergent enabled RAACM to progress from concept to flight in record time, proving the capability of building and scaling weapons systems for changing operational needs.
At inception, CoAspire in close coordination with Divergent developed an ambitious program roadmap requiring delivery of first fuselages, wings and fins from Divergent within 10 weeks, with fully integrated test rounds entering ground testing within 14 weeks, culminating in a successful flight test that met customer and programmatic requirements. To deliver fuselages at speed, Divergent leveraged a wealth of in-house digital tools allowing the team to take CoAspire's unique cruise missile design and rapidly converge together on a cost effective and manufacturable design that optimized for fuel tank capacity while meeting all structural performance requirements.
The Divergent team seamlessly transitioned from digital design to additive manufacturing and automated assembly, with manufacturing instructions generated from the designs dynamically assigned to the company's software defined manufacturing assets. Following first hardware deliveries at week 10, Divergent continued to support the CoAspire team by delivering digital design, analysis, and manufacturing artifacts required for the air worthiness approval process.
Under contract with the Air Force, RAACM is designed to be modular, scalable, adaptable and rapidly deployable across air, land, and sea platforms. RAACM is roughly the size of a 500-lb class MK-82 or GBU-38, and features a deployable wing, turbojet engine, guidance system, and lethal payload; it can be launched from any aircraft compatible with the GBU-38. CoAspire is the prime contractor on RAACM and has built a supply chain spanning 26 U.S. states and two European countries.
Barracuda-500 Selected to Move Forward on the Enterprise Test Vehicle Prototype Project (3. April 2025)
The Air Force Armament Directorate (EB) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have selected Anduril’s Barracuda-500 autonomous air vehicle (AAV) to move forward to the next phase of the Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) prototype project. The ETV program aims to create a highly-producible, modular, and affordable air vehicle that will serve as the baseline architecture for large-scale production of next-generation airborne platforms.
Within seven months of being selected as part of the ETV effort, Anduril optimized the Barracuda-500 design to execute a successful flight test, demonstrating how Barracuda’s simple and modular design - as well as Anduril’s approach and commitment to developing capabilities ahead of a specific customer’s need - facilitates rapid development, testing, and deployment of disruptive capabilities to warfighters.
Over the next phase of the effort, Anduril will demonstrate Barracuda-500’s autonomous teaming capabilities, further prove out the manufacturability of the system, and highlight the modular architecture that enables its adaptability to future mission needs.
Flight Test
Anduril’s selection follows rigorous testing and evaluation of the Barracuda-500 AAV. In September 2024, Anduril executed a successful flight test of Barracuda-500 in close partnership with EB and DIU. The end-to-end flight test was representative of future operational employment of Barracuda-500 and encompassed pre-mission planning, successful vertical launch from a cell designed to emulate palletized employment from air-lift aircraft, autonomous navigation and flight for over 30 minutes, successful capture of a GPS coordinate target identified in Lattice, and autonomous terminal guidance to the target.
Next Steps
Later this year, Anduril will execute a series of flight tests that demonstrate the collaborative autonomous capabilities of Barracuda-500, including simultaneous vertical launch of multiple Barracuda-500 systems, in flight system-to-system communications, and how Lattice for Mission Autonomy enables the execution of novel collaborative autonomous behaviors designed to increase effectiveness in contested environments.
Anduril will also prove out the manufacturability and affordability of Barracuda-500 over the next phase of the ETV project, demonstrating how Barracuda-500’s simple design, minimal tooling requirements, and reliance upon commercial components enables hyper-scale production while meeting the program’s aggressive cost targets per round. Over the next several months, Anduril will produce a number of ETV Barracuda-500 units using manufacturing processes and equipment that are representative of future full rate production techniques, continuing development towards a production variant capable of rapidly scalable manufacture in 2026.
Zone 5 Technologies Selects Scientific Systems Software for Integration in New Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., March 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Zone 5 Technologies announced today that it has selected Scientific Systems and its Collaborative Weapon Autonomy (CWA) software suite for integration onto its Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) prototypes. Zone 5 Technologies was one of two companies down-selected by the Defense Innovation Unit and the United States Air Force Armament Directorate to develop a new low-cost, producible precision guided aircraft-launched munition using commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Scientific Systems is partnered with Zone 5 Technologies to develop ETV prototypes that operate in this Network Collaborative Autonomy environment.
It’s day two at the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) Warfare Symposium and we’re excited to showcase our Piranha Cruise Missile, built in collaboration with our friends at Divergent.
The 50th Air Armament Symposium is only two weeks away! Hosted by the NDIA Gulf Coast Chapter, this year's theme is "Preparing for Great Power Competition."
We are excited to showcase five integrated solutions that are fueling U.S. defense innovation, development, and modernization:
1. Resilient-Embedded GPS/INS (R-EGI)
2. Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) Franklin
3. Enhanced Lethality Warhead
4. Long-Range Kill Chain
5. Common Modular Software-Defined Radio (cMSDR)
Leidos selected to prototype enterprise test vehicle (6. Juni 2024)
Leidos (NYSE:LDOS), a national security and health industry innovator, was selected by the U.S. Air Force Armament Directorate (EB) and the Defense Innovation Unit to prototype an enterprise test vehicle (ETV) intended to demonstrate modularity for subsystem upgrade testing and an integrated solution that can serve as a foundation for affordable mass production.
“The existing digital design of the system will facilitate thorough engineering studies under this contract. In addition, our extensive experience integrating weapons on C-130 aircraft that extends all the way back to the GBU-43 MOAB program will enable us to confidently address platform integration issues.”
Leidos is one of four companies selected from a highly competitive field of more than 100 applicants and will leverage a capability in development since 2022 to support the cost, schedule, and production goals established by customers and sought by warfighters to achieve mission success.
Initial flight demonstrations should occur within seven months of award date, and the most promising prototypes will be selected for continued development.
Four Companies Selected To Support the U.S. Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit’s Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) Project (3. Juni 2024)
ETV design rendering from IS4S. (Source: Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc.)
Design renderings of the ETV prototype optimized for high-rate production from Zone 5 Technologies.(Source: Zone 5 Technologies)
Prototype vehicle design from Leidos Dynetics. (Source: Leidos Dynetics)
Mountain View, CA (June 03, 2024) — The Air Force Armament Directorate (AFLCMC/EB) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have partnered to identify and prototype commercial and dual-use technology solutions for an enterprise test vehicle that demonstrates modularity for subsystem upgrade testing. The technology will also serve as a foundation for affordable high-rate production.
Initial flight demonstrations will occur within seven months from the agreement award dates, after which one or multiple of the most promising prototypes will continue development toward a production variant capable of rapidly scalable manufacture.
Vendors are incorporating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components wherever possible to mitigate supply chain bottlenecks and to keep costs low. Vendors will also leverage modern design for manufacturing approaches, ensuring air vehicles are not over-engineered for their intended mission, minimize use of expensive materials, and enable on-call high-rate production that is not possible with more exquisite counterparts.
To enable future design improvements and rapid integration of subsystems, prototypes are utilizing an open systems architecture reference. Capable of deployment en masse through multiple launch methods, ETVs create an overwhelming dilemma for any defending adversary.
DIU and EB selected Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc., Leidos Dynetics, and Zone 5 Technologies to develop prototype solutions for flight demonstration in late summer/fall 2024. These vendors were selected from a highly competitive field of more than 100 commercial and dual-use technology company applicants.
Additional ETV government project collaborators and evaluators include Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM).
Senior Materiel Leader
United States Air Force United States Air Force Test Pilot School
Luftwaffenstützpunkt Eglin, Florida, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Chief - Weapons Capacity Task Force Juli 2024–Aug. 2025 1 Jahr 2 Monate
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, United States
Leading development, production, and fielding of revolutionary modular, digital, agile, open systems weapons for mass employment in peer conflict. The Enterprise Test Vehicle is an ensuring low cost, modular small cruise module to enable rapid design, integration, and testing of weapons components and behaviors. The Franklin Affordable Mass Missile is the first definitized variant of the ETV, which is employed en mass via palletized airdrop from transport aircraft to strike targets from long range. The Extended Range Attack Munition is a foreign military sales variant of ETV that will be rapidly fielded in large numbers into the Ukraine conflict.
CoAspire is designing RAACM to meet the Navy’s carrier suitability standards as well as Air Force standards, ensuring that the missile can be efficiently integrated onto the Air Force F-15E and the Navy F/A-18E/F, the Joint Strike Fighter and any aircraft capable of employing MK-82 sized (500lb class) weapons. The goal with RAACM is to move from design to flight testing rapidly, according to Denneny.
theoderich hat geschrieben: ↑Mo 1. Sep 2025, 10:06Rusty Dagger cruise missile at centre of possible USD825 million ERAM sale to Ukraine
President of US company Zone 5 Technologies Kyle Maxhimer told Janes on 29 August that it was the primary vendor for ERAM and its Rusty Dagger air-launched cruise missile was the base platform for it, differing only with some customer-driven variations that may affect things like range.
Rusty Dagger, called an Open Weapon Platform by Zone 5 Technologies, has multiple launch options and a pyro-free engine start. It has a 926+ km range at a high subsonic cruise speed with terrain following autonomous navigation and uses tactical terminal manoeuvres before a high-energy precision strike, according to the company.
