US-based defence technology firm Anduril Industrial has announced its new family of missiles, Steelfin, a high-speed, configurable surface-to-air missile developed to counter a variety of aerial threats, such as hypersonic vehicles, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. The system employs a common two-stage design. Its first-stage booster can be tailored to vary range, performance, and launch parameters. Its second-stage interceptor consists of a common baseline airframe, avionics, software, and flight-control architecture for each variant.
The modular design aims to lessen the incidence of having to redesign the whole missile in the event of a change of operational requirement. Identical parts and production methods could be used to help bring about efficiencies in the manufacturing process and help to achieve economies of scale. Anduril says Steelfin is capable of being integrated with existing land- and sea-based launch infrastructure, such as the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System, and interoperates with current battle-management systems. Ballistic testing with surrogate air vehicles has been conducted, and flight tests will start in 2027.
The move also comes as the armed forces search for cheaper counter-drone tactics to deal with swarms of enemy aircraft that don’t max out the available expensive interceptors. Layered air defence, defensive and offensive protection of the armed forces and the military facilities, ships from the attack of various missile-type ballistics. Steelfin embodies the trend towards modular missile architectures and scalable defence manufacturing. Its actual ability, cost, and effectiveness will have to be proved through additional trials.
