Berthoud, Colo. – October 05, 2026 -- The U.S. Navy has awarded Ursa Major two contracts totaling $137 million to develop and qualify tactical solid rocket motors for the Compact Air-to-Air Missile (CAAM) and Naval Modular Missile (NMM) programs. The awards, funded through the Office of the Under Secretary of War, break down to $91 million for the CAAM motor and $46 million for the NMM Quad-Pack Medium-Range motor.

Ursa Major applies Lynx manufacturing to scale tactical motor output

The contracts leverage Ursa Major's Lynx manufacturing approach and additive manufacturing techniques to expand energetics production capacity. Jason Meredith, president of Solid Missile Systems at Ursa Major, said production capacity is the current bottleneck in missile programs and the company has built its approach around solving that constraint.

CAAM motor targets compact, low-cost design for air-launched missiles

For the CAAM program, an air-launched missile for current and next-generation aircraft, Ursa Major is designing a 7-inch solid rocket motor using Highly Loaded Grain to meet performance requirements within a tight volume at low unit cost. The design uses manufacturing methods intended for full-scale production once qualification is complete.

NMM variant requires compatibility with existing Navy shipboard launchers

Ursa Major will also supply a 10-inch solid rocket motor for the NMM medium-range variant, engineered for high-rate production and compatibility with existing Navy shipboard launch systems. The effort targets an operational motor meeting Navy performance and safety requirements while supporting high annual production volumes.

Contracts extend a string of Navy solid rocket motor awards since February

The new awards build on prior Navy work: a $10 million contract in July to advance the MK 104 design through critical design review and static fire testing for the Standard Missile family, and a $25 million cost-share Solid Rocket Motor Manufacturing Pathfinder Program completed in February with the Navy and the Office of Strategic Capital. That earlier program involved designing, building and static-firing a 10-inch Highly Loaded Grain motor and developing a proprietary propellant, conducted with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division.