Two defense manufacturers in the United States are set to advance composable solid rocket motor technology. Raytheon, in collaboration with Northrop Grumman, will continue the development of a new solid rocket motor (SRM) design.
This new capability will enable a composable motor capable of meeting multiple mission needs by adjusting thrust on demand.
Both companies have been awarded a phase two contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Burn n’ Go program.
“Solid rocket motor production has become a critical bottleneck for many missile programs,” said Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon. “By pursuing a composable approach to how these motors are designed and built, we’re helping lay the groundwork for faster, more adaptable munitions production across multiple mission sets.”
The award follows a highly accelerated, seven-month phase one effort in which Raytheon and Northrop Grumman demonstrated the feasibility of this new propulsion approach. The technology is intended to support a wider range of missions and weapon systems by giving the military more options from a common, single-use motor design. Under the phase two contract, Raytheon’s Advanced Technology team will further mature and scale its solution, followed by a series of demonstrations to show how it performs in increasingly realistic rocket motor configurations, according to a press release.
Raytheon claimed that creating composable weapons is a revolutionary approach to missile development – where standard, reusable components like hardware, software and testing infrastructure can be quickly adapted and reconfigured for different mission requirements.
The company is developing a composable weapons architecture to reduce cycle time, lower costs and accelerate missile development. The approach involves creating reusable components and standardized systems across multiple missile programs.
As prime on the contract, Raytheon is partnering with Northrop Grumman’s Allegany Ballistic Laboratory (ABL), which has extensive expertise in solid rocket motor design and manufacturing. The team also includes Luna Innovations, contributing its novel material development capabilities, to advance a solution that aligns with DARPA’s vision for more flexible, scalable missile propulsion, as per the release.
The plan is to deliver more flexible, scalable missile propulsion across weapon systems.
Traditionally, solid rocket motors are designed for a single purpose and cannot be modified after production. Raytheon’s new concept introduces a composable propulsion system that can adjust thrust levels according to operational needs. This would allow one motor design to support multiple weapon systems, reducing manufacturing complexity and improving deployment speed.
By creating modular propulsion systems that can be adapted for different missions, the technology could shorten manufacturing timelines, reduce costs, and improve supply chain efficiency for future defense programs.
The announcement also reflects a broader trend within the U.S. defense sector toward “composable weapons,” where common components can be reused across multiple platforms.
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Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.
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