‘Lugged’ and affordable: Air Force seeks industry info on new cruise missile

WASHINGTON — Seeking to bolster its budding portfolio of cruise missiles, the US Air Force is now on the hunt for a new, relatively cheaper and “lugged” weapon that could enter production as quickly as next year, according to a notice from the service.

The Lugged Affordable Cruise Missile (LACM), a request for information posted Wednesday by the service says, is envisioned as a 500 lb.-class weapon with a minimum 100 lb. warhead. The Air Force expects the missile to be capable of operating in contested communications environments, have a longterm unit cost of $300,000 or less and be ready to deliver beginning in April 2026. Eventually, the service anticipates the LACM could be produced at a rate of 1,000 rounds per year. 

The notice includes additional details about LACM’s expected performance characteristics, including that the cruise missile should boast a range of 250 nautical miles and be capable of flying 100 nautical miles at an altitude under 1,000 feet. The weapon should also come with an open systems architecture and be modular, enabling features like quicker upgrades. 

Vendors bidding for LACM should also include their ability to integrate weapons with US and foreign fighter aircraft, the RFI says. (A “lugged” weapon is mounted by attaching lugs to the pylons of either wings or internal weapons bays, according to Aviation Week, which previously reported the Air Force’s industry outreach for the LACM.) 

The Air Force’s search for LACM comes amid a Pentagon-wide push for cheaper weapons that can provide what officials call an “affordable mass.” Aided by funds furnished through the reconciliation process, the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget aims to scale up munitions production in particular, which in the Air Force includes a new weapon called the Family of Affordable Mass Missiles (FAMM).

The FAMM effort, which appears to be separate from LACM, plans to deploy cruise missiles as palletized munitions that can be dropped by cargo aircraft. It is expected to begin procurement in FY26, according to budget documents. Asked about procurement plans, an Air Force spokesperson previously told Breaking Defense that the FY26 budget “plans for initial test asset production, followed by larger scale production. The goal of FAMM is to maintain a strong vendor base and competition.”

FAMM draws from a Defense Innovation Unit project called the Enterprise Test Vehicle, where Anduril and Zone 5 Technologies each advanced with designs of low-cost cruise missiles.

More vendors could bid for LACM, however, as companies rush to make a stake in the cruise missile market. Responses to the RFI are due August 4, the notice says.