Anduril to demonstrate rocket motors for US Navy SM-6

US firm Anduril has been awarded a US$19 million ($28.7 million) contract to design, build, and test second stage rocket motors for use in the US Navy’s Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) anti-air, surface, and hypersonic missile that is deployable on 60 surface ships. The Navy plans to acquire hundreds of SM-6 variants in the coming years, making it the foundation of maritime missile defence and deterrence., says Anduril

Through this program, Anduril will demonstrate a high-performance, 21-inch diameter second stage rocket motor for an SM-6 variant for potential use in fleet area air defence against advanced, fast-moving threats. This program marks Anduril’s first public contract with the Department of Defence as a supplier of rocket motor systems. This award was facilitated by Program Executive Office Integrated Weapons System (IWS) 3.0, which designs, produces, fields, and maintains naval surface weapons systems.

“As threats from near-peer and non-state adversaries become increasingly advanced and widespread, it is imperative that we expand the supply base for solid rocket motors to meet and deter the threat,” said LTG (ret.) Neil Thurgood, Senior Vice President at Anduril.

Anduril’s recent market entry as a rocket motor supplier brings greater resources and competition to a heavily-consolidated industry. It also expands the industrial supply base and provides increased velocity for development and production of solid rocket motors, which are critical to replenishing US and allied stockpiles of munitions and maintaining credible deterrence.

In the middle of 2023 Anduril acquired Indiana-based startup Adranos, a manufacturer of solid rocket motors. Founded in 2015, Adranos invented and commercialised a proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy solid rocket fuel called ALITEC that it says can produce up to a 40% range increase in solid rocket motors, while saving costs. The company has also devised an advanced manufacturing process for developing solid rocket motors that is significantly faster and more efficient than techniques used by legacy solid rocket motor manufacturers, as well as reportedly being less damaging to the environment.

As a result of the acquisition Anduril is currently supplying sub-20-inch diameter rocket motors to several other DoD programs and customers.

Development and testing of these next-generation solid rocket motors will occur at both Anduril’s office in Huntsville, Alabama, and at the Mississippi Solid Rocket Complex in McHenry, Mississippi. The 450-acre McHenry facility is now capable of high-rate energetics production for solid rocket motors of up to 42 inches in diameter.