Just a month after raising $2.5B at a $30.5B valuation, officially entering “neo-prime” territory, Anduril looks more than ready to take on the real primes—this time in the cruise missile game.
Anduril announced today that its Barracuda-100M autonomous air vehicle (AAV)—only unveiled last fall—has completed successful flight tests for the High-Speed Maneuverable Missile (HSMM) program with Army DEVCOM’s Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).
This is the first time that Anduril or the Army has confirmed the company is participating in the HSMM program or working with DEVCOM AvMC. Really beginning to believe what Anduril President and CBO Matt Steckman said when he told Tectonic, “We would be credible bidding on effectively anything at this point.”
A bit about the Barracuda: The Barracuda-100M is the runt of the Barracuda family, which includes the larger 250M and largest 500M, but it could be Anduril’s winning ticket—especially when pitted against the trusty Hellfire missile. Here’s a bit about the Barracuda:
- Launch platforms: Fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters (like the AH-64 Apache and AH-1 Cobra), ground vehicles, and boats, just like the Hellfire.
- Propulsion: 100-pound thrust-class turbojet that Anduril designed and integrated in-house. That air-breathing turbojet and solid rocket boost motor extend the Barracuda’s range.
- Payload: 40-pound kinetic payload—twice the size of the Hellfire’s.
- Range: Over 100 miles, which Anduril says is “10x the range of the comparably-sized Hellfire missile at a similar price point.”
- Software: Ability to be integrated with Anduril’s flagship Lattice autonomy software.
Missile madness: DEVCOM AvMC’s HSMM program, according to the Army, “provides technology to support a compact, fast, maneuverable missile capable from short range engagements to long range, non-line-of-sight attack beyond 120km in degraded and contested environments.” Simple stuff, really.
The 100M is being designed specifically to meet these requirements. It’s also being optimized for the Army’s government-owned and developed Precision Target Acquisition Software (PTAS), an “imaging missile seeker target acquisition and track suite with autonomous capabilities.”
Anduril first began collaborating with the Army on the HSMM in 2023. Following wind tunnel and environmental testing in 2024, Anduril wrapped the year with an initial powered flight from its private test range.
“Flash forward to May of this year,” Stephen Milano, Anduril’s senior director of Advanced Effects, told Tectonic and other reporters in a briefing on Tuesday, “We executed multiple powered flight tests to verify and expand the vehicle’s envelope and the release and performance altitudes.”
Recent upgrades included adding a low-cost navigator, an independent mission computer, and design tweaks for manufacturability. In tests, the Barracuda “exceeded all outlined test objectives, including autonomous launch, mission execution, and multiple terminal guidance strikes,” the company said in a release.
The Army seems pleased, too. In a statement, DEVCOM AvMC’s Senior Science and Technology Officer Lt. Col. Shane Kohtz said, “This takes a leap from existing systems to a future that will significantly shape the battlefield.”
Barracuda and beyond: Anduril says these flight tests are an “important milestone” towards getting the Barracuda-100M operationally deployed.
To get there, the company will carry out several ground-launch demonstrations for the HSMM later this year and a live-fire demonstration at a government testing site next year. If those tests are successful, a big procurement order could be on the cards for everyone’s favorite defense darling.
And as if Anduril hadn’t notched enough wins lately, Milano hinted that DEVCOM may not be the only interested suitor. “We are working with other customers right now,” he told reporters. “I can’t disclose what those other customers are, but there are other customers outside of the AvMC program office.”