# 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. Published 2026-10-12 by TGOs. Canonical: https://tgos.io/news/2026/10/12/leidos-picks-x-bow-to-build-booster-motors-for/ 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.[1][2] That puts the booster on the same clock as the missile.[1][2] Leidos is funding LCCM development itself, building on technologies from its AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile program.[2] It said in May that warfighters will receive an initial 3,000 through a framework agreement with the Department of War.[2] 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.[3] X-Bow puts that agreement's total potential value at $69.7 million, with $50 million obligated at award.[3] ## Why it matters 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 1. X-Bow Systems, "Leidos Selects X-Bow to Provide Rocket Motors for U.S. Army's Low-Cost Cruise Missile," Oct. 12, 2026 2. Leidos, "Leidos to build initial 3,000 low-cost containerized munitions through Department of War framework agreement," May 13, 2026 3. X-Bow Systems, "X-Bow Awarded Nearly $70M to Develop Advanced Booster for Future Navy Missiles," Oct. 7, 2026 4. Department of Defense, "State of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base," February 2022