The defense contractor Anduril has unveiled a new line of low-cost, highly modular cruise missiles optimized for large-scale production called Barracuda-M. These autonomous aerial vehiclesAAV for its acronym in English, of the Barracuda family have three variants: Barracuda-100M, Barracuda-250M and Barracuda-500M, the latter being the largest in size, range and payload capacity. Each is compatible with a variety of payloads and deployment mechanismsAccording to the company, Barracuda offers an adaptable and upgradeable capability to counter threats and is the most affordable missile configuration, compared to other available options, being up to 30% cheaper to produce.
Anduril explains in a statement that Existing missile designs are very complex and that require a large amount of tooling to produce, along with specialized labor and materials. The Barracuda family of ammunition aims to make the production and deployment process much easier to give the United States an advantage in the event of war.
‘The Barracuda AAV family is designed for rebuild the American arsenal of precision guided munitions and propulsion aerial vehicles,’ the company said in the statement.
The Barracuda family missiles have advanced autonomous capabilities and software-defined, upgradeable characteristics. In its most powerful variant, the Barracuda-500, it has a range of 925 kilometerscan carry more than 45 kilograms of payload and offers up to 5 Gs of maneuverabilitywith more than 120 minutes of loitering timeThis means that the missile can maneuver during that time until it finds the target and impacts.
The high speed, high maneuverability and extended range of the AAV are made possible by Barracuda turbojetspropulsion engines that take in air to burn their fuel.
Barracuda is a highly intelligent, low-cost weapons system that is capable of Direct attack, penetration or ranged missionsin line with existing requirements, but Rapidly adaptable to future mission needs due to its high degree of modularity and upgradeability, according to the company.
Also, a single Barracuda needs a 50% less time to produce, requires a 95% less tools and a 50% fewer parts than competing solutions on the market.
Anduril says this makes the missile family 30% cheaperon average, than other solutions, in addition to offering an affordable production volume and a deployment that is profitable on a large scale.
Designed for fast, low-cost assembly, the Barracuda AAV family only requires 10 or less tools to assembleallowing both new and existing production lines to be quickly started up to produce the AAV on a large scale.
The Barracuda design incorporates commercially available components divided into six common subsystemsenabling assembly by a broader range of workers, including those in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors, rather than being limited to specialized defense manufacturing personnel.
All three variants can accept subsystems and integrate them as threats evolve. ‘Software-driven and controlled’ Lattice for Mission Autonomy From Anduril, Barracuda is capable of novel autonomous and collaborative behaviorsunlocking new usage concepts that increase survivability and effectiveness against large target sets in contested environments,’ the company says.
Barracuda’s modular open systems architecture and common subsystems enable the rapid integration and testing of new commercial subcomponent technologiesmaking it easy to adjust your mission capabilities as needed.