Business is truly booming in the boom business.
Yesterday, Austin-based new-age missile startup Aeon announced that it’s snagged a $13.8M contract to deliver an initial production batch of its software-defined, shoulder-fired Zeus missiles to US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The deal covers roughly 100 of the systems, expected to be shipped out over the next year.
- Breaking Defense first reported the contract.
“This is Aeon’s first publicly announced contract with USSOCOM and our most consequential award with the command to date, advancing [Zeus] through enhancement, testing, low-rate initial production, and delivery,” CEO Naweed Tahmas told Tectonic. “The award builds on extensive development, integration, and live-fire testing with other Department of War partners.”
(Ae)On Fire: We’ve covered Aeon a bunch, but as a quick recap for the newbies: The startup is on a mission to make missiles modular and software-focused with its two mythology-inspired main offerings, Zeus and ODIN:
- Zeus is the startup’s flagship “advanced tactical weapon system” (basically a smart missile). It runs on Aeon’s in-house threat identification and tracking software (ODIN), which is designed to be quickly updated to keep up with new threats and countermeasures, and is powered by minimal-smoke propellant.
- It’s compatible with current software (including ATAK) and supports shoulder-fired and vehicle-mounted launches, from aerial drones to turret platforms, USVs, and more. This contract is “focused on the shoulder-fired configuration of Zeus,” Tahmas said, but “if SOCOM needs vehicle launch, we’re ready.”
- Its modular design allows operators to swap seekers and warheads “in the field in seconds without tools,” enabling “the same missile to engage a wide range of threats,” he added.
- All that tech is totally vertically integrated, meaning they design and mix their own propellant, use their own rocket motors, and make Zeus’s fuze, flight computers, control system, and other components in-house.
For SOF operators, Zeus is designed to replace either unguided (like the M72 LAW anti-tank weapon) or expensive (like the Javelin) legacy systems, while adding a whole lot more adaptability and mobility with a “compact form factor suited for dismounted operations,” Tahmas said.
“Special operators need precision without sacrificing mobility, speed, or flexibility,” he added. “Historically, they have faced a tradeoff between lightweight, unguided shoulder-fired weapons and larger, more expensive and limited guided systems. Zeus was built to close that gap.”
Tahmas couldn’t comment on other contracts Aeon has for Zeus, but said they’ve “delivered rounds” to other customers. If that demand picks up, the startup has a new 145,000-square-foot facility ready to meet it. Go boom indeed.
