Army Moves to Develop Sub-$250,000 Interceptor With Service-Owned IP

Overview

• The Army plans to start a low-cost interceptor program in four to six weeks with a unit price goal below $250,000.
• Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the service will own the full design by splitting the missile into components and buying seekers, propulsion and other parts separately.
• The plan will invite nontraditional suppliers, including university labs and small companies, to compete for each piece of the system.
• The schedule calls for several months of component work at test ranges followed by a first live fire within a year of the formal kickoff.
• The effort responds to recent use of $3–$4 million Patriot missiles against drones costing about $4,000, a cost gap seen in Middle East operations involving Iran.