According to Anduril, the agreement with the Office of the Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering covers the procurement and delivery of at least 3,000 Barracuda-500M systems over three years under the Ground-Launched Low-Cost Containerized Munition programme. The company stated that production levels could increase depending on future Department of War requirements.
The agreement also includes production targets of at least 1,000 complete missile systems annually, with the first deliveries scheduled for the first half of 2027. In addition to the missiles, Anduril will deliver containerised launch systems, beginning with more than 60 launchers in 2027.
According to the company, the agreement represents a shift away from traditional munitions procurement models that have historically produced limited annual quantities of critical weapons. Anduril stated that the new framework is designed to support rapid, large-scale manufacturing of lower-cost precision munitions while strengthening U.S. weapons inventories.
The Barracuda-500M is designed as a long-range stand-off strike weapon capable of engaging land and maritime targets. According to Anduril, the missile carries a 100-pound payload and has a range exceeding 500 nautical miles.
The company stated that the system can optionally integrate with Anduril’s Lattice for Mission Autonomy software, enabling autonomous and collaborative operational functions. According to the company, these capabilities are intended to improve survivability and effectiveness in contested operational environments.
Anduril said the missile launcher is housed within a standard 20-foot ISO container capable of carrying up to 16 complete missile systems. The company added that operators can use Lattice or existing fire-control systems to select targets and initiate launches.
According to the company, the Barracuda family of systems was designed from the outset for high-volume manufacturing. Anduril stated that approximately 70 percent of the missile’s components are commercially available commodity parts, while the remaining components are supported through open-architecture supply arrangements involving multiple vendors.
The company added that the missile can be assembled in approximately 30 hours using ten common hand tools, allowing production to expand rapidly if required. According to Anduril, the design is also intended to reduce supply-chain risks and support scalable manufacturing.
Over the past year, Anduril stated that it invested more than $40 million in a dedicated production facility in Southern California for Barracuda systems. The company said the facility, covering more than 115,000 square feet, has already begun producing Barracuda variants.
According to Anduril, future production of the Barracuda-500M and related systems will transition to Arsenal-1, the company’s planned five-million-square-foot production facility in Columbus, Ohio. The company stated that the nearly $1 billion site is intended to support hyperscale weapons manufacturing.
Anduril also stated that it has invested heavily in expanding U.S. solid rocket motor production capacity. According to the company, $75 million in private funding and $58 million in Defense Production Act Title III funding have been committed to the expansion of a rocket motor production facility in Mississippi.
The company said those investments are intended to ensure reliable production of launch boosters for the Barracuda-500M system. According to Anduril, the company has now become the third U.S. supplier of solid rocket motors.
Anduril stated that the Barracuda-500M programme is intended to strengthen U.S. long-range precision strike capabilities through a more affordable and mass-producible munition design. The company added that it expects to ramp production to high single-digit thousands of Barracuda-500 systems by the end of the year.
