The US Air Force could adopt the secret nuclear stealth missile AGM-181 LRSO in 2027 at a cost of $13 million for B-21 and B-52J bombers

A new nuclear-armed missile could be in service with the US Air Force in 2027. It is called the AGM-181 Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO).

Here's What We Know

A critical design review of the future nuclear missile was successfully completed in March. Small-scale production of the AGM-181 LRSO is scheduled for the third quarter of 2027. There will also be a significant shift in spending towards procurement in the same year.

There had previously been rumours that the White House might cancel development of the new missile. However, last year the administration of US President Joe Biden confirmed the need for the AGM-86B ALCM (pictured below).

Funding for the procurement will grow steadily over the next five years. A surge is planned for fiscal year (FY) 2027. The US Air Force is requesting $67 million, $135.2 million and $295.1 million for procurement in FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 respectively. However, already in FY2027 the service wants $1.01 billion, and in another year - $1.7 billion. Starting from FY2029 and until the end of the life cycle the US Air Force intends to spend $6.5 billion on procurement.

On the other hand, funding for research, development, testing and evaluation will decrease. It peaked in FY2023, when the US Air Force received $928.9 million. For the next fiscal year, the service is requesting $911.4 million. In FY2025 and F2026, funding will drop to $704.9 million and $600.5 million respectively.

In FY2027, the U.S. Air Force will receive only $287.8 million and $76.4 million a year later. Beginning in FY2029, funding for research, development, test and evaluation of the AGM-181 LRSO nuclear missile will cease.

The developer of the AGM-181 is Raytheon, which beat Lockheed Martin to win the contract in 2021. The new nuclear stealth missile will be a replacement for the AGM-86B ALCM, which the US Air Force intends to spend about $32 million annually over five years to acquire. The first LRSO carrier will be the B-52J Stratofortress bomber. It will later be integrated on the next-generation B-21 Raider.

Development of the AGM-181 LRSO is proceeding in secret. The missile will not be able to reach hypersonic speed, and in terms of launch range will not be inferior to the ALCM (2400 km). This is all we know at the moment about the characteristics of the new nuclear missile. The US Air Force intends to receive a total of 1,087 missiles, 67 of which will be used in the development phase.

Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine