Oct 12 (Reuters) - Defense tech firm Anduril unveiled on Monday its Steelfin family of configurable and scalable surface-to-air interceptor missiles designed to tackle diverse aerial threats, as the US looks to beef up military stockpiles amid the Middle East conflict.
Steelfin's two-stage architecture features a first-stage booster for range, performance, and launch configurations and a second-stage terminal interceptor with airframe, avionics, and flight controls common across variants, Anduril
said.
Steelfin's common architecture allows the interceptors to move through the same production line, making it easier for Anduril to boost output of any variant, the company added in a statement.
The defense contractor said it plans to produce on the order of several thousand Steelfin variants a year in the short term.
This comes amid a broader push by US and its allies to expand arms production as growing demand for air and missile defense systems strains US weapons stockpiles.
Lockheed Martin also unveiled a new missile interceptor on Friday, called the PAC-3 Edge, designed to defend against hypersonic and advanced missile threats.
Anduril will begin flight testing Steelfin variants next year. It has already completed ballistic testing with representative air vehicles.
(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
