Contracts · Munitions
Leidos picks X-Bow to build booster motors for its low-cost cruise missile
Leidos is paying to develop the missile and says an initial 3,000 will come through a Department of War framework agreement. X-Bow's announcement gave no value, quantity or contract type.
X-Bow Systems announced Monday, Oct. 12, that Leidos has selected it to develop and produce the booster motors for Leidos' Low-Cost Containerized Munition (LCCM), which X-Bow calls the Army's low-cost cruise missile.1 X-Bow expects full-rate production of the motors at scale in 2027, the year Leidos says LCCM production begins. That puts the booster on the same clock as the missile.1–2
X-Bow says Leidos selected it to develop and produce the booster motors
for what X-Bow calls the U.S. Army's new Low-Cost Containerized Munition (LCCM)
will move through design, qualification testing and static fires
an initial 3,000 Leidos LCCMs through a framework agreement with the Department of War
Development of Leidos' LCCM is company-funded
X-Bow Systems, Oct. 12, 2026; Leidos, May 13, 2026
Leidos is funding LCCM development itself, building on technologies from its AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile program. It said in May that warfighters will receive an initial 3,000 through a framework agreement with the Department of War. To produce the LCCM, it will expand its workforce and enhance its facilities in Huntsville, Ala., and McEwen, Tenn.2
Leidos' booster work goes to a solid rocket motor maker in a sector that, the Pentagon said in February 2022, consolidation had left with only two domestic suppliers.1, 4 On Oct. 7, X-Bow announced a prototype agreement to develop and qualify a solid rocket motor booster for a Navy next-generation weapon. X-Bow puts that agreement's total potential value at $69.7 million, with $50 million obligated at award.3
X-Bow still has to take the booster through design, qualification testing and static fires, and those results will show whether it keeps pace with Leidos' 2027 production start.1–2
Sources (4)
- X-Bow Systems, "Leidos Selects X-Bow to Provide Rocket Motors for U.S. Army's Low-Cost Cruise Missile," Oct. 12, 2026 www.prnewswire.com
- Leidos, "Leidos to build initial 3,000 low-cost containerized munitions through Department of War framework agreement," May 13, 2026 www.leidos.com
- X-Bow Systems, "X-Bow Awarded Nearly $70M to Develop Advanced Booster for Future Navy Missiles," Oct. 7, 2026 www.prnewswire.com
- Department of Defense, "State of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base," February 2022 media.defense.gov