The U.S. military is firing expensive missiles faster than it can replace them, and the Pentagon is now trying to reset the balance by buying far cheaper weapons. Using unusual contracting methods and asking defense firms to design systems from scratch, the goal is to cut years from production schedules and save hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Army’s Low-Cost Cruise Missile program, known as LLCM, aims to build a stockpile of thousands of container-launched missiles that can be moved by vehicle. One key requirement is a price below $500,000 per missile. In a separate air-defense project, the Army wants missiles that cost less than $250,000 each. By comparison, the latest Patriot interceptors made by Lockheed Martin take more than two years to build and cost about $4 million each, while Tomahawk missiles made by RTX take more than a year and cost about $2.2 million each.
The effort comes as the U.S. has been increasingly worried that it cannot rearm quickly enough to deter threats and respond to conflicts, especially as the war with Iran has strained American stockpiles. The military says the new systems will not replace advanced missiles from Lockheed Martin and RTX anytime soon, but senior officials want new production lines started now so they have more options in coming years. The broader aim is also to address chronic Pentagon problems with delays and cost overruns, which experts blame on unstable congressional funding and indecision inside the department.
Officials and watchdogs have also accused some defense firms of overcharging the military, and lawmakers from both parties have called for tighter oversight. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have pledged to scrutinize contractors and sanction poor performers, but no public action has yet been taken. Jerry McGinn of CSIS said many advanced missiles are still “basically handcrafted munitions,” despite automation investments.
In the past year alone, the U.S. fired more than 1,000 Tomahawks in the conflict with Iran, at a cost of at least $2.5 billion and rising. CSIS estimates RTX needs at least a year to build each one. Against that backdrop, the Army is backing several lower-cost designs from CoAspire, Anduril Industries, Leidos and Zone 5, a Kongsberg Group subsidiary, with a target of more than 10,000 missiles by 2030. CoAspire says its Ghost missile could begin flight tests this year, while Leidos says it can produce 3,000 container-launched cruise missiles in three years by adapting an existing weapon and adding basic parts. CoAspire founder Doug Denneny said the company uses off-the-shelf components, 3D-printed parts and a more flexible OTA agreement to move faster, and Leidos CTO Doug Jones said the Pentagon is asking firms to focus only on essential requirements, asking, “Instead of building one Cadillac, can I build 10 Honda Accords?”
