A defense startup says it can fix America's ammo problem with China using a new low-cost cruise missile

• Anduril says its new cruise missile, the Barracuda, can be produced en masse and cheaply.
• It's hoping to be the US military's answer to a feared ammo shortage if it fights a near-peer conflict.

Defense tech startup Anduril announced a new range of cruise missiles on Thursday that it says can be mass-produced at low cost to help the US in a near-peer war.

Anduril said the key to its new Barracuda missile is its flexibility, through a modular system that can make the missile effective for a wide range of missions and allow the US military to use it en masse.

Three variants have been revealed so far: the Barracuda-100, the Barracuda-250, and the Barracuda-500.

The missile family starts with the Barracuda-100, which can carry a payload of 35 pounds at a maximum range of 85 nautical miles when air-launched, and caps off with the Barracuda-500, which carries a payload of 100 pounds with a range of 500 nautical miles.

The startup described the guided munition as "50% less time to produce, 95% fewer tools, 50% fewer parts — at a fraction of the cost," allowing the US to "bring mass to the fight."

"This is not designed to go specifically and rigidly at one specific problem," Anduril's chief strategy officer, Chris Brose, told DefenseScoop. "We have designed Barracuda to be able to range across a series of targets — from ground-based targets to maritime targets to others."

Anduril says it's solving a possible ammo shortage

Barracuda's unveiling comes as the US faces questions over its ability to sustain ammunition stocks if it fights a war with a peer like China or Russia.

Some wargames have shown that the Pentagon could run out of advanced munitions in weeks, or even days, according to a congressionally appointed commission in July.

Anduril referenced those concerns in an animated video announcement released on Thursday. The ad featured a newspaper headline saying that the US "urgently needs more missiles to deter China."

"We need an order of magnitude more missiles — and we need them to be simple and affordable enough to produce at scale to meet both peacetime and wartime demands," the company said.

In June, the US Air Force selected Anduril as one of four companies for the Enterprise Test Vehicle program. The project asked private vendors to showcase new missile ideas and models with an emphasis on "affordable high-rate production."

Diem Salmon, Anduril's vice president of air dominance and strike, told Defense One that the Barracuda-500 was the company's pitch for the Enterprise Test Vehicle program.

But all three variants are already flying, Salmon added, per Defense One.

Anduril says the Barracuda is designed with software that allows it to launch in waves of multiple missiles or with other types of weapons.

The company, founded by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, has been touting its focus on producing weapons at a massive scale, or what it calls "hyperscale," for defense.

In August, it raised $1.5 billion for a Tesla-style mega factory that it says is designed to be copied and replicated elsewhere.

"The bottom line is America and our allies don't have enough stuff," Brose said at the time.

A heavy part of Anduril's marketing for the Barracuda is its manufacturing line, with the company saying it can expand production quickly because the missile is assembled with "10 or less tools."

Anduril did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.