APKWS Laser-Guided Rockets: Pentagon Plans 25,000 a Year
A new Pentagon framework with BAE Systems would buy up to 25,000 APKWS guidance kits a year, the low-cost rocket U.S. jets now use against drones.
The Pentagon wants laser-guided rockets by the tens of thousands. On 19 October the Department of War announced a framework agreement with BAE Systems to buy up to 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance sections a year for up to seven years, “pending congressional authorization and appropriations,” according to the department’s release. The agreement was finalized with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
APKWS turns an unguided 2.75-inch Hydra rocket into a laser-guided weapon. Built for helicopters to hit ground targets, it has become the U.S. Air Force’s main air-to-air weapon against one-way attack drones in the Middle East, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. Neither the Pentagon nor BAE announced what the agreement would cost, Defense News reported.
What the framework says
The department said the multiyear agreement gives BAE “the sustained demand signal” it needs to buy long-lead parts and expand its workforce. Beyond the 25,000-kit baseline, it sets out a path to surge output to 35,000 kits a year for allies, unlocked as partner nations submit Foreign Military Sales letters of request. “By securing multi-year demand, this agreement keeps production lines running at capacity, provides our forces with interceptor inventory, and flips the cost calculus in the taxpayer’s favor,” said Michael P. Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment.
BAE Systems said it will raise production while it negotiates a multiyear contract within the framework. The kits are made in Hudson, New Hampshire, and Austin, Texas. Defense News reported that BAE delivered its 100,000th kit in February, and that the 25,000-a-year figure matches capacity a company official cited in 2023. The Navy’s current five-year APKWS contract, awarded in August 2025, is worth up to $1.74 billion for up to 55,000 kits for the Navy, the Army and foreign customers, with work running to December 2031, according to the same report.
Foreign demand is already building. Defense News reported that the State Department approved a possible $1.96 billion sale to Saudi Arabia in July that includes up to 20,000 APKWS kits, and that Italy is weighing a buy of 5,031 kits for counter-drone defense. The APKWS deal follows earlier 2026 framework agreements to expand production of the PAC-3 MSE and THAAD interceptors.
From helicopter weapon to drone killer
According to NAVAIR, the Navy command that manages the program, the APKWS II guidance section is threaded between the rocket’s 10-pound high-explosive warhead and its Mk66 motor. Production began in 2011, and initial operational capability came in 2012 on Marine Corps AH-1W and UH-1Y helicopters. The weapon reached the AV-8B, F-16 and A-10 in 2016.
The air-to-air role grew out of cost. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that during Iran’s 13 April 2024 attack on Israel, about 300 drones and missiles in all, many U.S. fighters quickly used up their air-to-air missiles, and three F-15E crews tried without success to hit drones with laser-guided bombs. Air Force officials put an APKWS round at about $35,000, against roughly $1 million for an AIM-120 AMRAAM and around $500,000 for an AIM-9X, the magazine reported. The Air Force version is designated AGR-20F FALCO.
F-16s scored the first rocket kill of a drone in 2024 against Houthi threats from Yemen. In May 2025, testers at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, cleared the rockets on the F-15E, and the capability was deployed within about nine days of testing starting, said Brig. Gen. Mark A. Massaro, head of the Air Force Test Center. An F-15E can carry up to 42 rockets in seven-shot pods. Since Operation Epic Fury began on 28 February, U.S. officials say Iran has fired more than 6,000 drones and 1,500 ballistic missiles, and F-16s near the Strait of Hormuz now fly with APKWS pods, according to the magazine. Army Apache helicopters can also fire the rockets at air targets.
| Item | APKWS II detail (NAVAIR) |
|---|---|
| Type | Semi-active laser guidance kit for 2.75-inch (70mm) Hydra rockets |
| Length | 18.5 in (guidance section); 73.77 in (complete round) |
| Weight | 9.8 lb (guidance section); 32.6 lb (complete round) |
| Diameter / wingspan | 2.75 in / 9.55 in |
| Speed | Up to 1,000 meters per second |
| Motor and warhead | Mk66 Mod 4 motor; M151 or Mk 152 10-lb high-explosive warhead |
| Platforms listed | AH-1W, UH-1Y, MH-60, AV-8B, F-16, A-10, AH-64 |
| Contractor | BAE Systems |
Specifications from NAVAIR. The F-15E integration and costs are from Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Why it matters
Peter’s World analysis, based on the sources cited in this article.
In our view, the deal is about the cost of each shot. Using the figures Air Force officials gave, one AMRAAM costs about as much as 28 APKWS rounds, and one F-15E sortie can carry 42 rockets alongside its missiles. That matters when, by U.S. officials’ count, Iran has launched thousands of drones since February (see our latest Iran war update). APKWS sits in a layered defense that also includes high-end interceptors such as the PAC-3 MSE and experimental lasers and microwave weapons for base defense.
The limits are real. The target must be lit by a laser, so the rocket suits slow, non-maneuvering drones rather than fast threats. Lt. Gen. Derek C. France, the former head of Air Forces Central, called APKWS “a step in the right direction, but it can’t be the final step,” and said air domain awareness and magazine depth both still need work. The framework is also not yet a contract: Congress still has to authorize and fund it.
What to watch: whether Congress funds the multiyear buy; the value of the eventual contract; how quickly BAE reaches 25,000 kits a year; and which allies file sales requests that could lift output toward 35,000.
Sources
- U.S. Department of War, Department of War and BAE Systems Sign Framework Agreement to Surge Counter-Drone Production to 25,000 Precision Interceptors Annually, 19 October 2026.
- Defense News, Pentagon, BAE sign deal for up to 25,000 precision-guided munition kits a year, 19 October 2026.
- BAE Systems, BAE Systems, US Department of War sign long-term agreement to increase APKWS production, 19 October 2026.
- Air & Space Forces Magazine, How the Air Force Rigged F-15s in the Middle East with Drone-Busting Rockets in a Week, 18 September 2026.
- Naval Air Systems Command, Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).
