The United States has shown for the first time what a future cruise missile with a nuclear warhead will look like

After many years of development, the United States has shown for the first time what the new AGM-181A Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) stealth cruise missile with a nuclear warhead might actually look like.

This is reported by The War Zone.

The LRSO is to replace the only nuclear-tipped cruise missile currently in use in the United States, the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), which has been in service since the end of the Cold War.

According to the publication, most notably, in this first declassified image, the LRSO has an inverted tail and resembles the conventional AGM-158 JASSM stealth cruise missile. The missile looks like it has a trapezoidal fuselage cross-section with a wedge-shaped nose. The wing design is also similar to the JASSM.

The new missile, created by Raytheon, will be installed on both the new B-21 Raider and the B-52 Stratofortress.

Otherwise, little is known about LRSO’s capabilities, as the program remains highly classified in many aspects. However, it can be expected to be a subsonic missile with a longer range than its predecessors, with a very difficult to detect and track hull and engine combination.

It will also be important to be able to navigate in all conditions, including degraded or no GPS access. It is also likely to have an autonomous response function to threats in the area of operation to ensure the best path to the target.

The LRSO has been undergoing secret flight tests for several years and will be equipped with an updated W80-4 thermonuclear warhead. This weapon is also part of a larger family of Long Range Strike systems, which includes the B-21 as the centerpiece, as well as new command and control and space support capabilities.

According to the Pentagon’s 2023 report, the estimated cost of the LRSO program as of December 2022, based on the expected procurement of 1,020 missiles, is just over $16 billion. The maintenance of the missiles over their 30-year lifetime is expected to cost another $7 billion.

However, more recent estimates put the cost of one LRSO missile at about $14 million per unit.

In January 2024, the US corporation Northrop Grumman received the first order for the pre-series production of B-21 Raider strategic bombers. The value of the contract was not disclosed, but it is estimated that the cost of one B-21 bomber could be about $639 million.

The B-21 is to replace the older B-1B and B-2A bombers. At least 100 aircraft are expected to be produced, with the first entering service in the mid-2020s.