U.S. defense firm Anduril could eventually manufacture its newly unveiled Steelfin interceptor missiles in Europe, a company executive told Reuters this week as governments seek to expand air-defense production after conflicts exposed shortages of such weapons.
“I certainly hope that something like Steelfin could become a capability that we engage with both the Polish customer and industry,” Brian Moran, Anduril’s vice president for Europe, told Reuters on Monday, Oct. 13. “We would definitely consider engaging European partners and customers on this capability.” Steelfin is due to undergo flight testing in 2027, according to Anduril.
Wars in Ukraine and the Gulf have strained stocks of air-defense interceptor missiles and caused delivery delays. Moran described Steelfin as a complementary, more affordable interceptor that could work alongside systems such as Patriot.
Anduril unveiled the Steelfin family of configurable surface-to-air interceptor missiles on Oct. 12. Per Anduril’s announcement as reported by AeroTime, each variant pairs a first-stage booster (with interchangeable solid rocket motors) and a common second-stage terminal interceptor that shares airframe, avionics, software and flight controls across the family, so production can shift between variants.
The company is already in talks to establish production in Poland of its Barracuda-500 cruise missile. Moran said that experience could open the door to additional manufacturing projects. “We’re having a very good experience with our industry partner here, PGZ,” he said. Discussions are also under way with the defense ministry and other agencies. Poland ranks among NATO’s top defense spenders relative to the size of its economy and wants to expand domestic arms production.
Talks with PGZ, its WZL-2 unit and the government focus on balancing local production with delivery speed and Poland’s military requirements. On European calls for industrial sovereignty, Moran said: “Sovereignty has a cost. There’s a cost to localisation. There’s cost in terms of timing and just schedule. And those need to be considered in light of the threats that Europe collectively is facing.”
The Steelfin comments stop short of firm commitments. They point to a possible path tied to the ongoing Polish collaboration, with flight tests still scheduled for 2027.