Anduril’s Barracuda-100M Completes Additional Flight Testing for US Army High-speed Missile Program
Anduril has announced the conclusion of a successful flight campaign by its Barracuda-100M which it is using as a test-bed for the US Army’s High-Speed Maneuverable Missile (HSMM) program. The program is intended to develop technologies that could be useful for the Army’s Long-Range Precision Munition (LRPM) program which is intended to arm the Apache fleet with a missile that quadruples the current range of Hellfire (8km to 30-40km).
The HSMM program is centered around the development of an advanced sensor known as the Precision Target Acquisition Seeker (PTAS). This is a passive sensor that uses a Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) camera to identify targets based on previously recorded imagery of the target through the use of autonomy software. For example an Army Gray Eagle drone might briefly observe a target and broadcast the imagery to the launcher which then fires a Barracuda-100M. Once it reaches the target the missile may approach from a different direction than the imagery was recorded so artificial intelligence must be used to identify the target from different angles or surroundings. Anduril’s Lattice autonomy suite is touted as one of the best in the industry and enables rapid target identification while flying at speeds above 500 knots (926 km/h).
Barracuda-100M was first flight tested at the end of 2024 with the program design review being completed by the US Army Aviation & Missile Center Technology Development Directorate (AvMC TDD) back in 2023. This new series of test flights aims to expand the weapons performance envelope and test software improvements and manufacturing simplifications. In its press release Anduril made clear they don’t see the B-100M as a tech demonstrator but rather as an operational weapon being developed for mass-production. Anduril expects to conduct ground-launch tests later in 2025 with a live-fire demonstration in 2026 as the culmination of the HSMM program.
Anduril’s Barracuda family has already seen remarkable success with its Barracuda-500 being a finalist in the the USAF’s Family of Affordable Mass Missile (FAMM) program. The FAMM is intended to supplement the million dollar plus JASSM family by keeping costs around the $200k mark allowing for much greater quantities. Anduril is competing with Zone 5 for the lucrative contract which already has $636 million allocated in the 2026 budget to procure 3,010 munitions. This quantity stands in stark contrast to the 507 AGM-158 family of cruise missiles being procured in the same year.