Containerized Weapons Systems

[Kirkhill]

Another tool in @Kirkhill's favourite toolbox...

Lockheed fires HELLFIRE from GRIZZLY containerized launcher

Lockheed Martin on March 24 said it had completed the first integrated live-fire and vertical-launch test of a HELLFIRE missile from its new GRIZZLY containerized launcher. The company said the test demonstrated the system’s ability to load and launch a

defence-blog.com

Seeing as how...

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2025/june/containerized-payloads-modular-lethality

Hunt For Container Launchers Packed With Drones Kicked-Off By Pentagon

The U.S. military wants proposals for containerized systems that can launch and recover a mixture of drone swarms on land and sea.

www.twz.com

What are the options out there? Feel free to add on any others you find.

Lockheed fires HELLFIRE from GRIZZLY containerized launcher

Lockheed Martin on March 24 said it had completed the first integrated live-fire and vertical-launch test of a HELLFIRE missile from its new GRIZZLY containerized launcher. The company said the test demonstrated the system’s ability to load and launch a

defence-blog.com

US Navy and Army's MK 70 Payload Delivery Systems Stretch Their Wings - Naval News

Last week we witnessed activity showing the US Navy and Army were both deploying their variants of Lockheed Martin MK 70 PDS around the globe

www.navalnews.com

MSPO 2025: Saab Presents Container-Based Launcher for GLSDB

At the international MSPO exhibition in Poland, the Swedish company displayed an updated version of the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) and a launcher disguised as a cargo container.

militarnyi.com

US containerized missiles: steathy firepower, high strategic cost - Asia Times

The US military’s turn to containerized missile launchers reflects a push for stealthy, mobile firepower that complicates targeting and enables rapid

asiatimes.com

Halcon and Rheinmetall Air Defence team up for the Skynex - EDR Magazine

By Paolo Valpolini Halcon, the company part of the EDGE group, specialised in guided weapons, unveiled at IDEX its SkyKnight

www.edrmagazine.eu

Rheinmetall unveils launcher for UVision's loitering munitions

www.globes.co.il

Another way of stowing kills - JAGM/Hellfire/Brimstone Vertical Launch from the back of a Boxer - 72 stowed kills
But, at 250,000 USD each = 18 MUSD in ammunition in that one pickup truck
And 3600 kg.
I guess that kind of highlights the drive for cheaper missiles and drones.


And missiles and drones aren't the only options

Containerized Weapon System | Invariant

Invariant's Containerized Weapon System (CWS) is a stand-alone force protection capability that can be easily deployed and set up to help the Warfighter. Containerized Weapon System (CWS), used in conjunction with other products like Firefly, can detect the direction of enemy fire and then...

www.invariant-corp.com

PDS application on the back of an LCS. Therefore applicable to an ship with a helideck or other flat spot.

I am not sure why they would completely block the helipad when they might just as easily have positioned 2 or 4 of those containers outboard and left the pad free for flight operations.

Comme celui ci.



And we might have some catching up to do

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[Kirkhill]

And if you add in the palletized options you get this stuff.

How Much the Skyranger Air Defense System Costs and How Many Units Can Be Purchased for €6–8 Billion | Defense Express

The German military intends to purchase hundreds of Skyranger anti-aircraft systems, with a budget of €6-8 billion

en.defence-ua.com

NASAMS Air Defence System

Discover NASAMS, a networked ground-based air defence system with modular architecture, multi-missile capability, advanced sensors and flexible mission configuration.

www.kongsberg.com

Tridon Mk2: Sweden and Denmark to Jointly Procure Anti-Aircraft Systems for Ukraine

Sweden and Denmark will jointly order Tridon Mk2 anti-aircraft gun systems for Ukraine, totaling approximately €226 million.The defense ministers of both countries, Paul Jonsson and Troels Lund Poulsen, announced this […]

militarnyi.com

https://wesodonnell.medium.com/ukraine-takes-delivery-of-the-british-terrahawk-paladin-4a868bb1faef

VAMPIRE™

L3Harris’ Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment is a portable kit that can be installed on most vehicles with a cargo bed for launching of APKWS or other laser-guided munitions.

www.l3harris.com

Defence Slinger | Electro Optic Systems

Lightweight counter-drone lethality incorporating a radar, a 30mm cannon with specialised ammunition, and EOS proprietary stabilisation.

eos-aus.com

U.S.-Made Counter-Drone Trucks Head for Ukraine

KINGMAN, Arizona — Ukraine will soon receive a limited number of “gun truck” systems to enhance the nation’s counter-drone capabilities.A Northrop Grumman-led team developed th

www.realcleardefense.com

And of course, there are these...




Couple those with that Chinese contraption in the post above. They cost in the 1000 to 3000 dollar range.
Ukraine has produced about 100,000 of them at a rate of 1000 to 2000 a day.

UK commits to mass production of Ukrainian-made interceptor drones - Breaking Defense

Under Project Octopus, the UK MoD anticipates that the system “will help Ukraine defend against aerial attacks such as Russia’s reckless overnight attack against western Ukraine."

breakingdefense.com

 

[Kirkhill]

A different palletization

Pallets of cruise missiles dropped from C130s and C17s.

Palletized Cruise Missile Testing, Production Plans Emerge | Aviation Week Network

The U.S. Air Force will soon launch the next “giant leap” in testing for a cruise missile program.

aviationweek.com

USAF hits maritime target with cruise missile launched from C-130 - FlightGlobal

The US Air Force has hit a target with a cruise missile launched from the ramp of a cargo aircraft for the first time as part of its Rapid Dragon programme. The US Air Force (USAF) has hit a target with a cruise missile launched from the ramp of a cargo aircraft for the first

www.flightglobal.com

Special Ops C-130 Tests Pallet-Dropped Cruise Missiles In The Arctic

The Air Force's Rapid Dragon palletized munitions system has made its first trip to Europe, including being loaded aboard a Polish C-130.

www.twz.com

Sandboxx News | Military News with Meaning—Where Expertise Meets the Front Lines.

Sandboxx News makes the complex approachable. Bridging the gap between academic expertise and practical boots-on-the-ground experience, we remove the mystery from conflict and highlight the importance of military service and deterrence-reinforcing technology.

www.sandboxx.us

Too bad they are Yankee missiles dropped from a Yankee system deployed from a Yankee plane. A plane that we happen to own.

 

[Kirkhill]

What can you hide/transport/install in a container?

U.S. Space Force picks ThinKom’s hidden satellite ground station

ThinKom Solutions has won the U.S. Space Force's "Fight Tonight" competition for 2026, beating out competing entries with a containerized satellite ground station designed to replace the kind of fixed dish antenna infrastructure that makes military communications vulnerable to detection

defence-blog.com

When I started in my industry we used to cut every pipe and weld every joint on site and hang them from walls. Then we, the vendors, discovered the advantages of building modules in our factories. Then we discovered the benefits of modules we could ship in seacans. Then we discovered the benefits of operating the modules in the seacans.

There is nothing under the sun that can't be containerized.

 

[Kirkhill]

100 battery-powered mini-Mosquitoes launched from a single Seacan.

www.twz.com/news-features/blitzbox-packs-100-weaponized-drones-into-an-unassuming-container

In U.S. military parlance, Group 2 drones have maximum total weights between 21 and 55 pounds, can fly up to an altitude of 3,500 feet, and have top speeds of 250 knots or less. Group 1 covers everything below Group 2, capability-wise, including Blitz and the even smaller multi-rotor drones, Toler mentioned.

The Blitz drone itself is a small, highly modular fixed-wing design. It is propelled via a pair of electrically powered propellers, one in each wing. It can cruise at speeds between 40 and 75 Knots Equivalent Air Speed (KEAS).

...

Once the pilot is removed from the equation (and the passengers) why isn't the tailsitter the preferred design for drones?

Copters suffer from the inefficiecy of the rotors in forwards flight. Tiltrotors and complications and weight for limited speed and range because they need to keep the people inside upright. Runways largely exist for the same reason.

Take the people out of the craft and it can lift of vertically, or inclined, with or without a boost, and immediately transition to wing supported flight with dynamic lift, extending range.

If hovering is required then the craft can sacrifice range by giving up dynamic lift and hanging on its prop. That seems to bee the ratioale behind all these cheap interceptor drones.

They are taking their inspiration from this:

Tail-sitter - Wikipedia

If you can launch 100 drones from a sea can how many tailsitting jet drones can you launch from a Halifax?

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