U.S. Army wants autonomous missile launchers ready by August 2027

The U.S. Army has asked industry for a lighter version of its planned autonomous missile launcher and wants working prototypes ready to fire live munitions in Australia during the Talisman Sabre 2027 exercise in August 2027. The service released a request for solutions briefs for the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher-Lite, or CAML-Lite, on Oct. 15. Companies have until Oct. 23 to respond. The Army plans to invite selected firms to submit full prototype proposals on Nov. 6 and expects to award prototype agreements around Dec. 18, 2026, according to the notice, issued by the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. CAML is the Army’s effort to field a missile launcher that can drive itself or carry an optional crew, fire both offensive and defensive missiles, and reload with as little human involvement as possible. In the notice, the Army says current launcher units depend on large crewed resupply teams that put soldiers at risk and slow how quickly batteries can set up and move. It wants a common launcher design that can deploy worldwide and accept new munitions without being locked into one vendor’s proprietary systems. The light variant is meant to be fielded quickly and tested early to shape later buying decisions. Each prototype must be a complete system with its own mobility, launcher and reload capability, and must be able to operate in convoy, follow waypoints on its own, be driven remotely or be driven by a crew. Bidders must show their system can fire live munitions at the August 2027 demonstration, and company personnel, not soldiers, will operate and maintain the vehicles there. The Army wants a range of approaches, from complete prototypes to mature vehicle concepts and modular designs, and says some companies may already have suitable vehicles or subsystems. Only U.S.-based companies cleared to handle SECRET information and hardware are eligible. Companies will also be expected to share the cost. The Army says it has limited money for the demonstration and does not plan to cover all of it, and a larger company investment, measured as a share of the demonstration cost, will count in a bidder’s favor. Each agreement will include a priced option for one to six additional prototypes, along with training and contractor support, for testing and experimentation with soldiers, including the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. The Army may also use that option to buy launchers for international partners, naming Australia. After Talisman Sabre, the service expects to select one or more vendors and exercise the option, then move into a second phase aimed at production-representative prototypes. Australia’s role ties into a recent change to the program. Army acquisition official Frank Lozano said this week that the service is adding a third, light CAML variant in partnership with the Australian military, alongside the medium and heavy versions already planned, Breaking Defense reported. He said more than one vendor will work on the light launcher. The wider CAML program is intended to give the Army a replacement for the Typhon long-range launcher, which the service found too large to operate easily on the battlefield, and to cut the number of launcher types it fields. The Army has said future CAML versions could fire missiles including the Tomahawk and the PAC-3 MSE interceptor. In August, it awarded the Georgia Tech Research Institute an agreement worth up to $33.4 million to serve as weapon systems integrator for CAML prototypes. The CAML-Lite notice does not specify which munitions the light launcher must carry, leaving bidders to propose munition types and whether they will supply them or request them from the government. The Army plans a system checkout and readiness review in March 2027 ahead of the Talisman Sabre live-fire demonstration that August.