American defense startup Ares Industries has announced the first flight test of a new anti-ship cruise missile being developed for the US military.
The weapon, said to be 10 times smaller and cheaper than existing missile systems, was tested within 11 weeks of the company’s opening.
It is reportedly meant to help fill the “munitions gap” caused by expensive weapons in the US armed forces inventory.
Typically, anti-ship cruise missiles weigh 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) and cost about $3 million.
But with the Ares Industries initiative, the military will have the option to buy a smaller, 300-pound (136-kilogram) cruise missile for approximately $300,000.
‘A Good Idea’
Y Combinator Management, the American firm that funds Ares Industries, said that developing a much cheaper missile system is useful because giant missile manufacturers “have become bloated” with increased global demand.
It is also not practical to spend much on taking out small targets using highly expensive weapons systems, it said.
“Anti-ship missiles only come in one size: big. These missiles were designed to blow up huge destroyers,” company founder Jared Friedman wrote on X. “But the frigates in the Chinese Navy are much smaller. And now we have drone ships.”
“It makes no sense to take out a $200K drone ship with a $3M missile.”
Like other available missile systems, Ares promises a weapon that is compatible with existing launch platforms and can take out targets hundreds of miles away.
For now, the company said its focus is on ground and ship-launched variants but is open to the possibility of developing an air-launched version with extended ranges and different payload configurations.
The missile is expected to be delivered to its first customers by mid-2025.