Pentagon plans purchase of over 10,000 low-cost cruise missiles

The Pentagon intends to rapidly procure 10,000 low-cost cruise missiles over the next three years, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Under the Low-Cost Containerised Missiles program, each missile is expected to cost several hundred thousand dollars. The new weapons are designed to expand and diversify US military stockpiles and will complement existing systems such as the Tomahawk cruise missile.

The Department of Defence has awarded contracts for development and production to companies including CoAspire, Zone 5, Leidos, and Anduril Industries.

WSJ previously reported that the United States has used more than 1,000 long-range Tomahawk missiles and between 1,500 and 2,000 critical interceptor missiles from systems such as THAAD and Patriot during the conflict with Iran. Full replenishment of these stockpiles could take up to six years.

By Jeyhun Aghazada