Army to sole-source deal for hypervelocity projectiles, drone-killing artillery cannon

The Army intends to award prototyping agreements to BAE Systems for new ultra-fast weapons to shoot down drones and other airborne threats, according to a recently posted notice.

The service in recent months has been doing market research to inform its pursuit of a “multi-domain artillery cannon” (MDAC) and hypervelocity projectiles (HVP), including via requests for information that were released in July.

“Based on market research conducted in July-October 2024 … the U.S. Army RCCTO believes BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P. is the only responsible source capable of developing and delivering both the MDAC and HVP prototypes within the required schedule; competition of this effort is not practicable and will not meet mission fielding requirements,” service officials wrote in a notice of intent to sole source that was published Dec. 20 on Sam.gov, using an acronym to refer to the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

The RCCTO therefore plans to issue a sole-source request for prototype proposal to the contractor as it looks to award an other transaction agreement, according to the notice.

The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), which falls under the Office of the Secretary of the Defense, awarded the firm a $16 million contract a few years ago to mature and demonstrate the lethality of its hypervelocity projectile against ground targets at “extremely long ranges,” according to a company news release.

The contractor has also worked on HVP technology for the Navy.

“The HVP is a next-generation, common, low drag, guided projectile capable of executing multiple missions for a number of gun systems, such as the Navy 5-Inch; Navy, Marine Corps, and Army 155-mm systems; and future electromagnetic (EM) railguns,” according to a BAE product description. “The HVP’s low drag aerodynamic design enables high-velocity, maneuverability, and decreased time-to-target.”

When fired from 155-millimeter tube artillery, the projectile has a range of 43 nautical miles, or about 80 kilometers, and a maximum rate of fire of six rounds per minute, according to a company data sheet.

The MDAC effort, which is focused on air-and-missile defense capabilities, is a new-start project for fiscal 2025.

The technology is intended to defend U.S. military forces at fixed and semi-fixed locations against attack by “a broad spectrum” of drones, fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, subsonic and supersonic cruise missiles, and “other advanced threats,” according to officials.

In future conflicts, the Army and other U.S. military services — collectively known as the joint force — are expected to be at risk from drone swarms and missile barrages, and they’re looking for new tools to cost-effectively counter them.

“Current air and missile defense munitions require onboard guidance and targeting components that drive high munition procurement costs. In contrast, the MDAC seeks to significantly reduce munition costs and enhance expeditionary utility by developing a 155 mm artillery cannon-based air defense system capable of firing Hypervelocity projectiles (HVP)s, integrated into a wheeled platform. The HVP will communicate with off-board sensors that track both the HVP and the threat and complete the interception of the target. The MDAC will interface with an external GFP Command and Control Battle Manager (C2BM) and the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS),” Army officials wrote in an RFI released in July.

The term “hypervelocity” refers to speeds of Mach 5 — about 3,836 miles per hour — or higher.

According to a Congressional Research Service report, a gun-launched HVP had an estimated unit procurement cost of about $85,000 in 2018. In comparison, some U.S. military interceptors for air-and-missile defense cost millions of dollars.

The RCCTO has a requirement to develop and deliver a “full” MDAC weapon system battery by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027 and carry out an operational demonstration in fiscal 2028.

That delivery is expected to include eight multi-domain artillery cannons, four multi-function precision radars (MFPR), two multi-domain battle managers (MDBM), and at least 144 hypervelocity projectiles, according to an RFI.

The HVP must be capable of supporting a launcher environment with peak pressures and setback greater than current surface-to-surface artillery; interface with government-provided off-board sensors that track both the HVP and threat to complete the interception of a target; interface with an inductive data transmission device to receive pre-launch mission data; enable rapid first-round response time and high rate of fire; maintain projectile maneuverability through interception of target; minimize the minimum required time of flight to intercept targets; maximize the lethal effects against threat systems; enable a rapid ammunition resupply time via manual and automated means; and demonstrate supportability, safety, and cybersecurity characteristics in the projectile design, among other requirements, officials noted in an RFI.

The Army plans to spend about $646 million total on the MDAC system project in fiscal 2025-2027 leading up to the demo, according to budget documents.

“The MDACS program will utilize streamlined acquisition methods to rapidly prototype the capability. It will leverage existing prototypes from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) to refine requirements and address Army and Joint Force concepts. Throughout the developmental effort, Soldier touchpoints will gather feedback for Army requirements generation and prototype maturation. MDACS will use the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and conduct a series of flight tests culminating in a battery-level operational assessment … in FY 2028,” per the budget documents.

Once the demo is concluded, the prototype weapon system is intended to be delivered to a “unit of action” supporting “multi-domain operations” as a “residual combat capability.” The prototype will also inform an “enduring capability requirement,” a program-of-record decision and future acquisition activities, officials wrote.

A BAE Systems media relations official did not respond to a request for comment.