Anduril, which has earned a reputation for rapidly developing innovative defence equipment, announced its new family of Barracuda cruise missiles at Land Forces 2024.
According to Anduril, the Barracuda “is a highly intelligent, low-cost weapon system that is capable of direct, stand-in or stand-off strike missions in line with existing requirements, but rapidly adaptable to future mission needs due to its high degree of modularity and upgradeability”.
The Barracuda family of air-breathing, software-defined autonomous air vehicles have three versions. The Barracuda-100M, -250M and -500M have a different size, range and payload, with their nomenclature referring to their approximate range in nautical miles.
The turbojet-powered vehicle can carry a payload of up to 100 pounds (45kg), and the variants employ common subsystems “made up of commercially derived and widely available components that provide supply chain resiliency, redundancy and surge capacity”.
Its development is complete, so the Barracuda is available for immediate sale.
David Goodrich, executive chairman & CEO of Anduril Asia-Pacific, told Asian Military Review that the Barracuda has multiple launch methods, including from fifth-generation aircraft weapon bays or under-wing hardpoints on fourth-generation aircraft, from helicopters, ships and ground vehicles. They can also be launched from pallets in the back of transport aircraft.
Astoundingly, Anduril can produce a Barracuda in half the time than competitor cruise missiles available today. It also claims they require 95 percent fewer tools and 50 percent fewer parts. This results in a weapon 30 percent cheaper on average, and which costs perhaps 10 percent of an SM-family missile.
Goodrich noted that traditional cruise missiles are complex, low-production-capacity items, plus their production surge capacity is virtually non-existent. Nor are they easily updated once in production.
However, as the Ukraine conflict has demonstrated, production in quantity is vital. Goodrich said the next war will be a war of production, and this is where the Barracuda excels as it can be produced quickly and more affordably.
As Anduril explained, “Australia, the United States and our allies and partners do not have enough missiles to credibly deter conflict with a near-peer adversary. Existing arsenals of precision-guided munitions would be exhausted in a matter of days in a high-end fight.”
Because it is software-defined, it can be updated as threat vectors change. Its autonomy means it can be redirected mid-flight. Controlled by Anduril’s Lattice autonomy software, the Barracuda can loiter for two hours and perform 5G manoeuvres.
The Barracuda represents a new breed of weapon that is more producible, intelligent, upgradable and flexible. It “is purpose-built to bring mass to the fight,” Anduril pointed out.
by Gordon Arthur
