Lockheed shoots down test drone using container-launched missile

June 3 (Reuters) - Defense ‌major Lockheed ​Martin ​said on Wednesday that it had successfully launched a missile from a shipping ‌container and intercepted a test drone amid rising ⁠demand for low-cost counter-drone solutions.

The Pentagon has long backed ‌containerized weapons systems deployed ‌from standard shipping containers as a low-cost and mobile defense capability.

Here are some details:

• The joint-air-to-ground ​missile was launched from a 10-foot container in a system called "GRIZZLY containerized launcher."

• It intercepted ⁠a one-way attack drone that can strike a target by crashing ​into it.

• The launcher uses commercial off-the-shelf materials, reducing logistics footprint and acquisition cost.

• ​It can be mounted on ‌ground sites or maritime platforms and hold up to eight munitions at ⁠once, allowing it to deliver a relatively large volume of fire.

• The missile test used sensors and software ⁠from Sanctum Counter-Unmanned Aerial System, jointly developed with Microsoft, as ​well as R-40 radars made by Utah-based startup Fortem Technologies to track and engage the target.

• The Pentagon had ‌also signed a framework agreement with four other defense companies in May, ‌including Leidos, to launch the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles ⁠program, which aims to ‌procure 10,000 missiles ​over three years, starting in 2027.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy ‌Leo)

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