Story perspectives

Anduril Unveils Modular Steelfin Interceptor Missiles for Production

By Drooid · Oct 12, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Anduril Industries unveiled the Steelfin surface-to-air interceptor missiles on October 12, 2026.
Steelfin uses a modular two-stage design with a common terminal interceptor and interchangeable boosters.
Boosters are offered in 10-inch, 18-inch, and 21-inch diameters for varied range and launch configurations.
Anduril plans to produce several thousand Steelfin interceptors annually in the short term.
Anduril targets a unit cost one-third of a PAC-3 MSE, competing with Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 Edge.

History

Historical Context

The Patriot system, born from Raytheon’s 1975 SAM-D program and renamed in 1976, entered service in 1984 and received its first ballistic-missile upgrade, PAC-2, in 1990. In 1997 the U.S. Army fielded the hit-to-kill PAC-3 interceptor, supported by the AN/MPQ-65 radar and the 1999 PDB-5 software link-16 upgrade. Anduril’s 2026 Steelfin launch builds on that legacy of modular, lower-cost interceptors.

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Story summary

Anduril Industries unveiled the Steelfin surface-to-air interceptor missiles on October 12, 2026.
Steelfin uses a modular two-stage design with a common terminal interceptor and interchangeable boosters.
Boosters are offered in 10-inch, 18-inch, and 21-inch diameters for varied range and launch configurations.
Anduril plans to produce several thousand Steelfin interceptors annually in the short term.
Anduril targets a unit cost one-third of a PAC-3 MSE, competing with Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 Edge.

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