미공군, 120억달러를 투입해 향후 5년간 저가 순항미사일 28,000발 도입

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미공군이 향후 5년간 120억 달러를 투입해 저가 순항미사일 28,000발을 도입할 계획이라고 합니다. 단가가 대충 43만 달러네요. 

MC-130J 코만도 II 화물칸에서 팔레트형 탄약 시스템이 실사격 시연 중 투하되고 있다. (미 공군 주방위군 사진: Tech. Sgt. Brigette Waltermire)

공군 5개년 계획: 120억 달러 투입해 저가 순항미사일 약 2만 8천 발 구매
2026년 4월 29일 | 작성자 Todd South

공군은 향후 5년 동안 신규 저가 장거리 미사일 프로그램에 120억 달러 이상을 투입할 계획이며, 최근 산업계에 일부 탄약의 비행 거리를 1,200마일 이상으로 확대할 것을 요청했다.

이달 초 공개된 예산 문서에서 공군은 ‘저비용 대량 탄약군(FAMM)’ 프로그램을 통해 다년 계약으로 약 2만 8천 발을 확보하는 데 126억 달러를 지출할 계획을 밝혔다.

이 자금 요청은 국방부 전반에서 고가 탄약과 저가 탄약을 동시에 확보해 재고를 보충하고, 중국과 같은 상대와의 대규모 분쟁에 대비하려는 더 큰 노력의 일환이다. 이러한 분쟁에서는 10만 개 이상의 목표를 타격해야 할 수도 있다.

FAMM 조달은 초기에는 비교적 완만하게 시작될 예정이며, 공군 계획자들은 2027년 예산에서 1,000발 구매를 위해 3억 5,500만 달러를 요청했다.

그러나 향후 5년을 전망하는 중기 국방계획에서는 급격한 증가가 나타난다.

2028년: 18억 5천만 달러로 5,300발
2029년: 23억 달러로 5,920발
2030년: 40억 3천만 달러로 7,700발
2031년: 41억 3천만 달러로 7,990발

FAMM 프로그램은 두 가지로 나뉜다. 하나는 전투기와 폭격기에 장착되는 외부 탑재형 탄약이고, 다른 하나는 수송기에서 묶음 형태로 투하되는 팔레트형 탄약이다. 예산 문서는 각각의 수량을 명시하지 않았지만, 팔레트형이 우선순위임을 나타냈다.

현재 공군은 250~500마일 범위 내 목표를 타격할 수 있는 탄약을 요구하고 있다.

그러나 해당 문서는 “향후 단계”에서 가시선 밖 확장 사거리와 장거리 킬체인 통신 능력에 자금이 투입될 수 있다고 언급하고 있다.

장거리 확장

4월 20일 공군 생명주기관리센터는 산업계에 1,200마일 이상 비행해 저속 함정을 타격할 수 있는 저가 순항미사일에 대한 정보를 요청했다. 이 프로젝트는 ‘FAMM-Beyond Adversary Reach’로 명명되었다.

공지에 따르면 해당 무기는 최소 시속 537마일로 비행할 수 있어야 하며, 비행 중 경로 수정 정보를 수신할 수 있어야 한다. 또한 연간 1,000~2,000발 생산이 요구된다.

이 프로젝트의 목표는 “단일 공통 공대지 탄약을 개발해 전장을 단순화하고, 저비용이면서도 적응성이 높고 장거리 스탠드오프 능력을 갖추는 것”이다.

이를 위해 공군은 다양한 플랫폼에서 운용 가능한 유연성을 요구하고 있다.

공지에 따르면 “해당 무기는 전투기 및 폭격기에 내부 및 외부 탑재가 가능해야 하며, 수송기 팔레트에서 투하되거나 해상 작전을 위해 미 해군 함정에서도 운용될 수 있어야 한다”고 명시되어 있으며, 초기 운용은 팔레트 방식이 될 예정이다.

또한 항공기와 함정 외에도 육군 지상 발사기를 통해 지상 목표를 타격할 수 있어야 한다.

팔레트형 운용

팔레트형 개념은 2019년 시작된 공군 실험 프로그램 ‘래피드 드래곤’과 밀접하게 연관되어 있으며, 이는 수송기를 무기 투하 플랫폼으로 전환하는 것을 목표로 한다.

공군 연구소는 C-130과 C-17에서 다수의 시험을 수행했으며, 2021년 12월 에글린 공군기지에서 실사격 시험도 진행했다.

이 시험에서 특수작전사령부 소속 MC-130J 승무원은 AGM-158B JASSM-ER 9발이 담긴 팔레트를 투하했다.

JASSM-ER는 팔레트에 담겨 낙하산으로 분리된 후, 엔진이 점화되어 목표를 향해 비행했다.

JASSM-ER는 록히드 마틴이 개발했으며, 해상 목표용 장거리 공대함 미사일과 함께 “고급형” 고가 탄약으로 분류되며, 발당 약 150만 달러 수준이다.

래피드 드래곤 실험은 이후 국방혁신단 프로그램 ‘프랭클린’으로 발전했으며, 발당 10만 달러 수준의 장거리 무기 개발을 목표로 했다.

2024년 공군 미래 회의에서 공중전투사령부 부사령관 Michael G. Koscheski 중장은 “500마일을 비행하며 함정을 타격할 수 있는 10만 달러 무기”를 생산할 것이라고 말했다.

이후 여러 기업이 저가 미사일을 공개했다. 안두릴의 Barracuda, 록히드의 Common Multi-Mission Truck, L3Harris의 Red Wolf, Leidos의 Black Arrow, Zone 5 Technologies의 Rusty Dagger 등이 있다.

또 다른 기업 CoAspire는 해군 리그 전시회에서 ‘Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile-Extended Range’라는 탄약을 공개했다.

RAACM-ER는 1,200마일 비행이 가능하며, 해상, 공중, 지상 플랫폼에서 발사가 가능하도록 설계되었다.

Air Force Plan: $12B to Buy Nearly 28,000 Cheap Cruise Missiles

A palletized munitions system falls from the cargo hold of an MC-130J Commando II during a live-fire demonstration. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Brigette Waltermire)

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Air Force’s 5-Year Plan: $12B to Buy Nearly 28,000 Cheap Cruise Missiles

April 29, 2026 | By Todd South

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The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.

In budget documents released earlier this month, the service outlined plans to spend $12.6 billion on multiyear contracts to procure nearly 28,000 units under its Family of Affordable Mass Munitions program.

The funding request is part of a broader effort across the Pentagon to acquire both expensive projectiles and low-cost options to replenish stockpiles and prepare for a potential large-scale conflict with the likes of China, which could require the U.S. military to strike 100,000 or more targets.

Procurement is set to start relatively slowly for FAMM, with Air Force planners requesting $355 million for 1,000 missiles in the 2027 budget.

But the Future Years Defense Program, which projects five years out, shows dramatic increases coming:

• 2028: $1.85 billion for 5,300 missiles
• 2029: $2.3 billion for 5,920 missiles
• 2030: $4.03 billion for 7,700 missiles
• 2031: $4.13 billion for 7,990 missiles

The FAMM program is split into two efforts: one for lugged munitions, carried by fighter and bomber aircraft, and another for palletized munitions, dropped in batches from cargo aircraft. Budget documents did not specify the quantities of lugged or palletized munitions the Air Force is seeking, but they did indicate the palletized version is the service’s first priority.

For now, USAF is seeking munitions capable of striking targets within a range of 250 to 500 miles.

But those documents also note that “future increments” of FAMM program funding could be spent on extended-range capabilities, beyond line-of-sight, and long-range kill-chain communications.

Longer Ranges

An April 20 notice from the the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center seeks information from industry on an affordable cruise missile capable of traveling more than 1,200 miles to hit slow-moving ships, dubbed FAMM-Beyond Adversary Reach.

The center is interested in a weapon that can fly at least 537 mph and receive midcourse navigation updates, according to the notice. Contractors would need to produce 1,000 to 2,000 missiles annually.

The project aims to “streamline the battlespace by developing a single, common, air-to-surface munition that is affordable, adaptable, and possesses significant standoff range.”

For that, the center wants more flexibility on which platforms can launch the potential weapon.

They’re seeking “a weapon that must be both internally/externally lug-mounted by fighters/bombers and deployed from a cargo pallet or for maritime operations on [U.S. Navy] ships,” according to the notice, though the initial use case will be from a pallet.

Beyond the aircraft and ship needs, the missile must also be able to strike land-based targets using Army ground launchers.

Palletized Efforts

The palletized aspect of the missile’s capabilities closely follows a Air Force experimental program called Rapid Dragon that dates back to 2019, seeking to turn the Air Force’s cargo aircraft into weapon delivery systems.

As part of Rapid Dragon, the Air Force Research Lab conducted multiple tests from both the C-130 and C-17, including a live-fire test from Eglin Air Force Base in December 2021,

In that test, the crew of an Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J Commando II dropped pallets of nine AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles-Extended Range.

The JASSM-ERs were put in pallet crates, dropped from the aircraft, and then extracted from the pallet by a parachute, according to the AFRL release. The missiles’ engines then ignited and the weapons sought their targets.

The JASSM-ER is built by Lockheed Martin, along with its maritime target option, the Long-Range Air-to-Surface Missile, and is considered an “exquisite” or high-technology, high-cost round at $1.5 million apiece.

A Lockheed Martin Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT) is released from a Rapid Dragon-style pallet.

The Rapid Dragon palletized experiment transitioned to a program run by the Defense Innovation Unit, dubbed “Franklin,” which aimed to develop long-range weapons at $100,000 per round, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.

Lt. Gen. Michael G. Koscheski, then-deputy commander of Air Combat Command, said at the 2024 Air Force Futures conference hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies that the Franklin program would produce a “$100,000 weapon that can go about 500 miles and can punch a hole in a ship.”

Since then, many companies have unveiled their own low-cost missiles: Anduril’s Barracuda, Lockheed’s Common Multi-Mission Truck, L3Harris’ Red Wolf, Leidos’ Black Arrow, and Zone 5 Technologies’ Rusty Dagger.

Yet another, CoAspire, recently unveiled its entrant into the low-cost cruise missile market at the annual Navy League Sea-Air-Space trade show, calling the munition the Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile-Extended Range, according to the company’s website.

The RAACM-ER can fly 1,200 miles and is built to launch from sea, air, and ground platforms.

[백선호]

지난 4년간 러시아가 쏜 크루즈 미사일이 모두 몇 발이었는지 궁금해지네요. 샤헤드같은 것 빼고.

[위종민]

패트리엇이 킨잘 요격했네 하는 뉴스 본 지도 오래 돼 가네요. AS-4까지 끌어다가 지상에 쏴댄 게 몇년 전이니 물량이 거의 떨어진 건지.