🔷 Solid Rocket Revolution

Solid Rocket Revolution

Solid rocket motors (SRMs) are a critical part of any military’s credible combat capability.

They power everything from counter-drone rockets to air-to-air missiles.

The Strategic Problem

Like many defense sectors after the Cold War, the SRM industrial base experienced massive consolidation. Ten companies eventually became just 2—Orbital ATK and Aerojet Rocketdyne.

A few years ago, even those 2 were for sale—in 2018, Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital ATK, and L3Harris acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2023.

This consolidation created brittleness, which the war in Ukraine and global instability have now exposed.

One eye-opening example: it's estimated to take 3-8 years to replenish the THAAD interceptors used in the 12-day Iran-Israeli conflict.

But where there are challenges, there are opportunities.

Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a 10-year-old rocket motor company that got its start with liquid propulsion—think reusable hypersonic engines and even hypersonic vehicles—and has been applying those lessons learned to SRMs.

Their focus is on building propulsion systems faster, smarter, and at scale.

Lynx

Rather than massive bespoke production lines, Ursa Major developed the Lynx manufacturing system — a flexible, 3D-print-driven approach that can rapidly produce SRMs of different diameters, from 2 to 22 inches, on common machinery.

That means the same line can pivot between SRMs supporting everything from 2.75-inch APKWS, 5-inch, 10-inch options, or a 13.5-inch SM-2/3/6, and even 21-inch boosters for Patriot and SM-3 missiles.

HLG

The process is also different, using what they term Highly Loaded Grain (HLG) propellant technology.

Ursa Major’s HLG approach packs in more propellant in the same form factor.

That means Ursa Major motors can be retrofitted to current missile stockpiles, giving them extended range—think what could be done with AIM-120 missiles that suddenly had 40% more range.

In fact, Ursa Major just developed an extended-range 2.75” SRM for BAE’s APKWS laser-guided rocket—the key weapon in the counter-drone fight that Air Force fighters have been using to shoot down drones in the Middle East.

Safety

The tech and improved power don’t mean a thing if it’s not safe and reliable.

Ursa Major has an internal safety program, but is also working closely with RTX to ensure their SRMs are qualified to the highest standards.

They’re currently on contract with the Navy to establish a second supplier for the Mk104 Dual Thrust Rocket Motor, which powers the SM-series.

The big picture: propulsion is the hardest part of missile manufacturing, and it’s where Ursa Major is moving fastest.

Scalable production, modular designs, and game-changing energetics, and doing it at the speed of relevance.

🎧 Want more? Sure you do!

Check out the full conversation with Ursa Major CEO Dan Jablonsky!

Available on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

In That Number

61 of 61

Epirus used its high-powered microwave (HPM) weapon to down 61 of 61 drones—including a 49-drone swarm—in recent drone-defense testing.

Epirus also just inaugurated a counter-drone innovation hub in Oklahoma.

TRIVIA

The first mass-produced U.S. military SRM was the 5-inch High Velocity Aircraft Rocket (HVAR). Fielded in 1944, what nickname did it quickly earn?

A) Hellfire
B) Holy Moses
C) Bomber Rocket
D) Thunder Stick

On the Radar

Navy RCO. The Navy is consolidating several innovation and rapid acquisition offices under a new Naval Rapid Capabilities Office (NRCO). A 3-star will lead it (for now), and its charter is to focus on fast-tracking solutions within the 3-year time horizon. Recommendations for the 5 initial priority programs are due by the end of October.

• The Merge’s Take: Nothing but good to see here—there are way too many innovation offices in DoD to keep track of, and almost none of them have the authority or resources to get things to the end-user. Speaking of, the memo also states it is assuming responsibility for the Navy’s part of the Replicator program, which is currently DIU’s hallmark initiative. And DIU director Doug Beck resigned. Keep an eye on broader innovation organization reform…

AI battle management. The Air Force and Navy recently conducted a test in which manned fighters received commands from an AI battle manager. Developed by startup Raft, the voice-assistant reportedly sped up coordination from minutes to seconds, enabling real-time tactical awareness in the air battle space.

• The Merge’s Take: Battle management is a high-touch job—it takes experience and skill for 1 human to timely and accurately coordinate tactical control of many aircraft. What makes this particularly interesting is that the AI battle manager compared the Air Tasking Order with airborne assets, confirmed when the minimum force requirements were met, and even provided picture calls. One big question remains: if you call “Judy,” will it listen?

Requirements Reform. By the end of the year, the Pentagon’s onerous requirements process will be gone. The biggest change is getting rid of the JCIDS process and the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), which oversees it. In its place, the organization will focus on tracking Key Operational Problems (KOPs) and establish a board to oversee resources and accelerate funding solutions to address them.

• The Merge’s Take: Unlike what you may have seen on LinkedIn, this doesn’t kill requirements—it simply eliminates the ‘joint requirement for requirements’ of large programs (JCIDS) and the council that oversees it (JROC). Each service still has a process and requirements council, but it's now freer for reform since it doesn’t have to conform to JCIDS. It’s a great first step, but time will tell how it goes—remember JROC (1986) and JCIDS (2003) were each established to fix the services’ myopic focus on themselves over interoperability. And this is just 1 part of requirements reform, which itself is 1 part of the 3-part problem: requirements, budgeting, and acquisition.

• The Merge’s Spicy Take: OK, it’s not our spicy take, but it’s too good not to share: “To put it in plain language, it became a self-licking ice cream cone, where the service vice chiefs in the JROC, chaired by the vice chairman, essentially said, ‘We’ll support your requirements if you support our requirements.’ And it was more of a self-satisfying exercise that really lacked teeth to define the best capability solutions, backed up by analysis, that would lead to the best outcomes for the Department of Defense as a whole.”

They Said It

“They can be more potent and more effective because we can hang different ornaments on that Christmas tree.” 

— Brig. Gen. Jason Bartolomei, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, on how modular open systems and government reference architectures enable rapid integration of new technologies onto platforms

Knowledge Bombs

• Ukraine was approved to buy 3,350 air-launched ERAM low-cost cruise missiles from the US (produced by Zone 5 and CoAspire)

• Kratos is working with Taiwan to develop a derivative of its jet-powered MQM-178 Firejet target drone for one-way attack missions

• Lockheed Martin won a $720M Army contract to increase JAGM & Hellfire missile production

• The US is acquiring a 9.9% stake in Intel to expand the domestic semiconductor industry

• York Space Systems completed its delivery of 21 satellites for the Tranche 1 launch of the SDA’s PWSA program

• DeepSat won a $1.25M AFWERX contract to advance real-time surveillance from Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO)

• Reliable Robotics won a $17.4M Air Force contract for autonomous Cessna 208B Caravan cargo planes

• Assured Space Access launched the Caplink Array, a multi-role phased array antenna that can perform various radar and communication functions

• India approved a $7.4B deal to buy 97 HAL Tejas Mk1A fighters

• 3 companies won Army prototype contracts to turn Infantry Support Vehicles (ISVs) into autonomous vehicles (Forterra, Overland AI, and Scout AI)

• The Air Force announced plans to upgrade its C-130 fleet with 147 APG-83 AESA radars, the same radar used by the F-16

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ANSWER
B. The High Velocity Aircraft Rocket was nicknamed Holy Moses, and over 1 million were produced during WWII. It replaced the underperforming forward-firing aircraft rocket (FFAR).