In a continued effort to prepare its equipment to deal with the growing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles, the U.S. Air Force has published documents indicating that its aircraft are expected to receive new counter-drone missiles soon.
According to a report by the website Naval News, the Air Force’s F-16 fighter jets and the Navy’s MH-60 helicopters are expected to receive the new infrared-guided variant of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) from BAE Systems.
Following a Joint Urgent Operational Need (JUON), designated CC-0588 and identified in August 2024 in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, the company received the green light to proceed with rapid prototyping and initial field production by this fall.
The documents identify the Group 3 UAS threat, particularly in the Middle East, as severe, with no significant improvements in the current counter-drone network. Without an air-to-air solution in the field, U.S. forces on land and at sea would face a critical vulnerability in the region.
The new missile effort, designed to mitigate cost-capability and payload trade-offs, focuses on a “Dual Air-Air Mode” variant of the AGR-20F FALCO rocket, a version of the APKWS rocket from BAE Systems that has already seen operational use as a counter-drone missile.
The updated configuration adds a nose-mounted long-wave infrared (LWIR) seeker and a mid-body warhead equipped with a dual-safe proximity fuze. The new seeker enables a handoff from laser designation to infrared homing, reducing the time a crew must maintain laser illumination.
The reduced laser time allows for faster engagements against maneuvering or massed unmanned aircraft, while the smaller diameter enables fighters to carry a dozen or more missiles per sortie.
Changes to the baseline Fixed Wing, Air Launched, Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordnance (FALCO) APKWS aim to deliver a “low-cost system in large numbers to defeat swarms (potentially numbering in the hundreds) of lower-cost Group 3 UAS,” according to the documents.
BAE Systems was selected as the primary solution among 43 respondents to an Air Force Request for Information issued in March 2025. The company will now develop, test, and deliver updated components to support 300 missile prototypes under the contract.
One hundred missiles are scheduled for integration and testing events, while the remaining 200 will serve as operational stock to facilitate operational evaluation and contingency use in the Middle East.
Photo: BAE Systems. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
