Army's Mid-Tier Air Defense Race Narrows to Two
Boeing–Anduril and Lockheed Martin advance to Phase 2 of the IFPC Inc 2 competition, filling a gap the Army has carried since the 1990s.
By The Defense Desk
The U.S. Army has down-selected two teams — Boeing paired with Anduril, and Lockheed Martin — to compete in Phase 2 of the Integrated Fires Protection Capability Increment 2 (IFPC Inc 2) Second Interceptor program, a contest to add a new mid-tier missile to the Enduring Shield launcher already fielding AIM-9X Sidewinders. [1]
The Army has not had any kind of mid-range air defense capability since it retired its Hawk surface-to-air missile systems in the 1990s. [1] Enduring Shield, developed by Leidos' subsidiary Dynetics, is now entering operational service and is designed to provide short-to-medium range defense against a variety of aerial threats, including drones. [1] Rafael Systems Global Sustainment, a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli defense contractor Rafael, had also been in the running but was not down-selected. [1]
[1][2] The Army wants the second interceptor to offer roughly comparable capabilities to the AIM-120D AMRAAM, but in the same form factor as the AIM-9X — the existing palletized launchers can currently be loaded with up to 18 Sidewinders. [1]
Lockheed Martin's design is visually reminiscent, at least in broad strokes, of a compact air-to-air missile concept called Cuda, which the company previously promoted in the 2010s. [1]
The timing is not incidental. Strained interceptor stockpiles and the hard arithmetic of magazine depth have sharpened the appetite for a cheaper, plentiful mid-tier option — one that does more sorting before the expensive rounds have to fly.
Lt. Gen. [1] Phase 2 now moves to detailed design, system integration, and a competitive capability demonstration.
Our scalable production approach is designed to provide a reliable, affordable layer of defense against a range of aerial threats to protect the warfighter with practical, dependable capability when it matters most.Bob Ciesla