L3Harris Gets Up to $60M to Flight-Test a Ramjet Counter-Drone Interceptor for the Army's XRC Program

The Army's search for a counter-drone missile that can outrange the Stinger now has two ramjet contractors. On Oct. 23, L3Harris announced a three-year contract worth up to $60 million from the Army's DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC). The award moves the company into phase two of the Xtended Range Counter-sUAS Missile (XRC) program, where it will flight-test a fully integrated interceptor powered by an air-breathing ramjet.

The announcement came less than a month after Northrop Grumman disclosed its own XRC award: an $18.8 million DEVCOM AvMC contract, announced Sept. 29, to develop and produce solid-fuel ramjet propulsion for XRC missile prototypes. That contract also covers a ground and flight test campaign.

Both companies left out the numbers that matter most. Neither has published range, speed or unit cost for its design.

What L3Harris actually announced

The press release, datelined Melbourne, Fla., says the interceptor is aimed at small- to medium-size unmanned aircraft and at "traditional Short Range Air Defense threats," the short-range air defense (SHORAD) category. Phase two centers on flight performance testing with a fully integrated round. The company describes the design as modular, cost-effective and deployable from existing launch platforms.

Scott Alexander, president of L3Harris' Propulsion Systems business, said the approach combines "innovative propulsion with advanced seeker technologies." The company says it chose an air-breathing ramjet for fuel efficiency and extended engagement range.

The release does not answer a list of basic questions. Defense WarRoom notes that L3Harris has not released range, speed, diameter, mass, warhead or seeker type. Interesting Engineering adds that the announcement gave no test start date and no phase-one results. It also gave no maximum range, speed or demonstrated interception rate. The Army has not announced a deployment date.

The headline figure is a ceiling. Contract values described as "up to" depend on later funding, and Defense WarRoom's analysis says plainly that funding to the full $60 million is not guaranteed.

Why a ramjet?

A conventional solid rocket motor carries its fuel and its oxidizer. A ramjet takes its oxygen from the air it flies through. Northrop's announcement spells out what that means for a small missile: solid-fuel ramjets use atmospheric oxygen as the oxidizer, so internal volume that would otherwise hold oxidizer can hold more fuel. In a missile sized to fit an existing launcher, more fuel means longer powered flight, and that is where the extra reach comes from.

For counter-drone work, powered flight matters. A missile that coasts after a short boost loses energy and maneuverability as it goes. A missile still under thrust near the end of its flight can chase a target that is turning or climbing. That fits L3Harris' framing of "extended engagement range" rather than simply more distance.

The physics also cut the other way. As Interesting Engineering notes, ramjets need enough speed before they produce useful thrust. A ramjet has no compressor. It relies on the missile's forward motion to ram air into the combustor, so something else has to get the missile up to operating speed first. Making that handoff work inside a compact, launcher-compatible airframe is a real integration problem. It is also exactly what phase two's flight testing with a fully integrated interceptor should show.

Where XRC sits in the Army's plans

XRC is not a weapon program yet. According to Defense WarRoom, it is a science and technology effort, not a program of record, and it is built around the Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) mission. The Army's market research asked for a missile compatible with the Stinger Vehicle Universal Launcher (SVUL) that could outrange the FIM-92 Stinger against Group 2 and Group 3 UAS. Per Defense News, Group 2 drones weigh 21 to 55 pounds and Group 3 drones under 1,320 pounds, with both flying below 250 knots.

That launcher requirement probably explains the emphasis in both companies' messaging. L3Harris stresses deployment "from existing launch platforms," though Defense WarRoom notes the company has not confirmed that its round fits the SVUL envelope. A ramjet's appeal here is getting more range out of roughly the volume a Stinger-class round already occupies, without building a bigger launcher.

The two awards also differ in scope. Northrop's contract covers ramjet propulsion for XRC prototypes, with work running through December 2029 according to a company spokesperson quoted by Defense WarRoom. L3Harris' phase-two work covers a complete interceptor, including the propulsion and seeker integration Alexander described, flying as a single system.

XRC alongside NGSRI and NGCM

XRC is one of several Army efforts aimed at roughly the same problem. Defense WarRoom describes XRC as not the Stinger's designated successor; that role belongs to NGSRI (Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor), the M-SHORAD Increment 3 effort. XRC is specifically about stretching counter-UAS reach from the M-SHORAD launcher.

A third effort uses a different launcher. On Aug. 4, Defense News reported an Army sources-sought notice for a Next Generation C-sUAS Missile (NGCM). It is meant to defeat Group 2 and 3 drones and to be integrated into the existing Coyote launch system. The notice set hard numbers:

Threshold range: more than 16 km at 6 km altitude
Objective range: more than 25 km at 8 km altitude
Seeker: radar
Unit cost: under $150,000, as part of a bulk purchase
Quantity: 5,000 missiles

Those figures are useful because they are the most specific public statement of what the Army wants from an extended-range kinetic counter-drone missile. The XRC announcements contain nothing comparable. Nothing public links XRC to NGCM's specifications, and the two efforts target different launchers. Still, the NGCM notice shows the scale the Army is thinking at: thousands of rounds, priced in the low six figures, with reach measured in tens of kilometers.

Why It Matters

The cost problem in counter-drone defense is well known. Expensive interceptors fired at cheap drones is a losing trade. The Army's answer appears to be a range of kinetic options, each tied to launchers it already fields: SVUL on M-SHORAD for XRC, and Coyote for NGCM. A ramjet that adds meaningful range to a Stinger-sized missile would let mobile air defense units engage Group 2 and 3 drones farther from the forces they protect, without a new vehicle or launcher.

For now, that remains a hypothesis. XRC is an S&T effort with no program of record and no deployment date. The public record contains no range, speed, cost or intercept data from either contractor. What has changed is that L3Harris will now fly a complete interceptor, and Northrop has a funded ground and flight test campaign for its ramjet motor. Those tests will be the first real evidence of whether the ramjet's efficiency gains hold up in a launcher-constrained airframe. They will also test whether the boost-to-ramjet transition works reliably at this scale.

The things to watch are whether either company publishes performance data and whether the L3Harris contract is funded toward its $60 million ceiling. Another key signal would be any move to turn XRC from a technology effort into a program the Army intends to buy.