The US Air Force is developing a low-cost cruise missile known as the Extended Range Attack Munition ( ERAM ), which could evolve into an air-launched counter-drone weapon, The War Zone reported. In the device war time, it’s unclear whether the tool will be a master of none or a jack-of-all-trades.
The ERAM program, launched to meet the needs of the Ukrainian military, explores various modular subsystems, including the Fixed Wing Air-Launched Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordnance ( FALCO ). The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Armament Directorate, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is overseeing the task.
The ERAM, presently in Phase 1 of creation, aims to create a 226-kilogram detail weapons with a range of up to 400 meters and the ability to work in GPS-degraded conditions.
The FALCO subsystem, intended for counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS ) roles, could be integrated into future ERAM variants. The US Air Force’s emphasis on more reasonably priced air-to-air capabilities comes from the need to combat drones and hypersonic cruise missiles in the modern war era.  ,
The ERAM’s ability as an air-to-air fighter with a 400-kilometer range may provide a major advantage, particularly against less responsive targets. With the corresponding upgrades, it could be an ideal loitering munition for aerial anti-access/area denial ( A2/AD ) against drones and cruise missiles.
This development coincides with US military initiatives to promote faster production of new weapons and address issues about supplies of ammunition, especially given the Red Sea procedures against Houthis and keeping Ukraine engaged in Russian combat. Both war have demonstrated a pressing need for affordable, mass-produced ships to stop drone and missile concentration attacks.  ,
As an air-to-air weapons with the FALCO structure, the ERAM may provide a cost-effective option for countering robots and slow-moving airborne threats. The 2023 shootdown of an alleged Chinese spy bubble over the US illustrates that have, as using a US$ 472, 000 AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air weapon against such goals is financially unstable.
The ERAM’s expanded selection of 400 meters also gives it an edge over traditional air-to-air weapons. For instance, the AIM-9X has a range of more than 16 kilometers while the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile ( AMRAAM ) has an estimated maximum range of 55 kilometers.
But, as the ERAM was originally designed as an air-to-ground weapons, its success may be limited against fast-moving drones with ambiguous capabilities and cunning systems.
One such instance is China’s WZ-8 air-launched helicopter. Launched from an H-6M proper fighter, the WZ-8 may sail 48, 000 feet at Mach 6. Probably designed to track US ship battlegroups, the WZ-8 provides a tough target to hit.
Additionally, China’s GJ-11 Sharp Sword cunning aircraft is a flying-wing style similar to the US B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider stealth bombers, enabling it to slide past air defenses and attack corporate targets with air-to-surface missiles or bright bombs.
These developments highlight the ERAM-designed drone threats’ increasing sophistication.
However, ERAM’s reliance on networked kill webs for targeting is a potential vulnerability. The War Zone report notes that these kill webs rely on a variety of outside-the-box data sources for guidance, which raises questions about interoperability and susceptibility to electronic warfare.
The US could conceivably strike various targets with a single munition type, simplifying production and logistics while reducing the need for multiple specialized weapons because the ERAM could be modified to attack air, sea, and land targets.
Seth Jones for the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS ) writes that the high cost and lengthy production times for some US missiles, such as those for the US’s two-year Tomahawk Block V and the US’s$ 3.2 million Patriot PAC-3, raise questions about the ability of the US defense industry base to support the prodigious need for precision-guided munitions in a war against a near-peer adversary. This situation makes a low-cost, mass-production solution such as ERAM necessary.
ERAM’s multi-role design may lead to trade-offs, making it a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. A missile that is too slow to penetrate contemporary air defense systems due to the design’s lack of maneuverability to hit maneuvering targets. Its warhead may also be too small to destroy large or fortified targets, and its range may be too limited for stand-off attacks on enemy A2/AD systems.
Along with other similar projects like the US Navy’s Multi-Mission Affordable Capacity Effector ( MACE), the introduction of yet another low-cost, multipurpose weapon project like ERAM risks diverting US attention and funding from the development of more capable weapons that are essential for a conflict with a close-knit adversary.
Such weapons include the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile ( LRASM), Maritime Strike Tomahawk ( MST ), and Naval Strike Missile ( NSM) to replace the Cold War-era Harpoon. These would be critical in a potential conflict with China, which already has the world’s largest navy in terms of ship numbers, with over 370 ships and submarines and 140 major surface combatants, as per the US Department of Defense’s 2024 China Military Power report.
Dmitry Filipoff mentions in a February 2023 article for the Center for International Maritime Security ( CIMSEC ) that the ranges of the LRASM, MST, and NSM, at 563, 1, 600, and 185 kilometers respectively, trump those of the Harpoon, at only 128 kilometers for the most common variants.
Filipoff points out that the LRASM and NSM’s low procurement rate and lack of suitable launch platforms, the NSM’s short range and small warhead in comparison to the LRASM and MST, the limited MST kits, and the slow transition to the MST configuration could hinder US firepower in a near-peer conflict with China.
Moreover, the LRASM, MST and NSM are subsonic missiles, which may be limited in effectiveness against China’s newer air defense systems, such as the HQ-9B, designed to shoot down such threats. Due to these restrictions, it is necessary for the US to expand its hypersonic weapons arsenal.
The US needs to compete with China and Russia in the field of hypersonic weapons. A hypersonic weapon has not yet been used in active service by the US. In contrast, Russia has used the Kinzhal and Tsirkon hypersonic weapons in the ongoing Ukraine war while China has fielded the DF-17 hypersonic missile to attack US carrier battlegroups and Pacific bases since 2019.
While the ERAM promises versatility and cost-effectiveness, its success hinges on whether it can deliver lethal precision or become another overextended, underwhelming multi-role missile.