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With the world’s biggest economies, the United States (US), Europe, China, and Russia, having transmutated into wartime economies, and conflicts remaining imminent across hotspots, there lies a huge demand surge of solid-propellant rockets and, more importantly, the fundamental constituent of all these missile and launch systems – the solid-rocket motor (SRM). Both the strategic and tactical arms of militaries have always been biased in favour of SRM, and their biases are growing stronger. Recent conflicts across various theatres have only reiterated the importance of air-defence and precision-strike missiles, and among them, solid-propellant rockets are the most technically favoured.
Both the strategic and tactical arms of militaries have always been biased in favour of SRM, and their biases are growing stronger.
SRM is considered the most reliable, durable, and storage-friendly system among all classes of projectile-powering systems, including liquid-fuel, semi-cryogenic, and cryogenic propellant rockets. These inherent chemical and physical properties of an SRM make it ideal for air-defence interceptors, multiple rocket launch systems, anti-access area denial precision-strike missiles, air-to-surface standoff missiles, long-range anti-ship missiles, and small satellite launch systems.
Geopolitical Trigger for SRM demand
SRMs have existed since the beginning of ballistic missile technology. However, multiple global geopolitical hotspots are attritioning pre-2020 solid-fueled missile stockpiles and are triggering enormous production orders. The five noticeable conflicts fought in the past five years — Ukraine-Russia, Iran-Israel, India-Pakistan, Armenia-Azerbaijan, and Thailand-Cambodia — have all witnessed rapid utility of solid-fueled missiles and the depletion of stockpiles at a rate that is unsustainable from the 2010s manufacturing standpoint. Typically, an SRM can be manufactured within two weeks, with the curing time — a process of solidifying a solid fuel from its precursor chemicals — taking the longest, between 3 and 12 days. Missile and SRM manufacturers are currently researching to expedite curing without affecting the efficiency and precision aspects of the missile.
The day-long Iranian strike on Israel in April 2024 had Iran hurling 170 drones, over 120 ballistic missiles, and nearly 30 cruise missiles at Israel. In response, the latter successfully intercepted the incoming projectiles through its David’s Sling and Arrow air-defence systems; however, it was immediately understood that the game is not only about overwhelming attack and interception but also about the depletion of missile stockpiles. The Israeli government has announced a defence spending of US$ 12.5 billion in 2025—26 for an “advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security.” SRMs will play a major role in this procurement. Iran, too, has attempted to reach a production rate of ~1100 medium-range ballistic missiles per month. However, Israel has attacked Iranian solid-fueled missile manufacturing complexes, those in Parchin, Khojir, and Shahroud. Such targeted attacks on SRM facilities not only highlight the criticality of SRMs but also attempt to limit an adversary’s missile production.
Such targeted attacks on SRM facilities not only highlight the criticality of SRMs but also attempt to limit an adversary’s missile production.
The US was quick in understanding the SRM manufacturing capacity limits. In 2017, the US Government Accountability Office raised concerns about the country’s dwindling SRM stockpiles and the ensuing risks related to production delays and supply chain vulnerabilities. Although the US has been carrying out expeditionary military operations, especially in West Asia, missiles were not part of its weapons repertoire. After the fall of the erstwhile Soviet Union, until the mid-1990s, the US had five major domestic suppliers of SRM – Pratt and Whitney, Thiokol Propulsion, Alliant Techsystems, Hercules Aerospace, and Aerojet. However, by 2015, it was left with a duopoly of Aerojet Rocketdyne and Orbital ATK. Since 2017, the US has not only added new manufacturers and suppliers of SRM to its ecosystem, but also sponsored innovation on both missile and space launch fronts, and has developed strategic partnerships with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in Europe.
US and NATO’s Growing SRM Capacities
In the US, newly established defence companies, such as SpaceX, Anduril, X-Bow Systems, among others, are collaborating with older defence companies such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman. 2025 has been a watershed year in that sense.
In July 2025, Anduril, which was working on advanced autonomy systems, collaborated with Raytheon to innovate a highly loaded grain configuration for an advanced SMR. This innovative and validated configuration packs propellant densely into the same volume of the rocket motor, enabling extended range and therefore tactical advantage to the missile and space launch system.
In October 2025, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin entered into a partnership to build an SRM manufacturing facility to ensure a reliable and cost-effective production for the US stockpile, especially for the Multiple Launch Rocket System.
In November 2025, X-Bow Systems, another new-age defence company, made headway into additive manufacturing of solid-propellant production systems that scale up production of tactical, strategic, and hypersonic SRMs. This new innovative process is expected to annually add around 30,000-50,000 SRMs to the US and its allies’ stockpiles.
Both these SRMs are built with robotic liner application, a faster way than the long-used manual process, critical tools and nozzles are built with 3D printing, one that uses a low cost propellent, and digital twinning of the engineering design.
In December 2025, Northrop Grumman static-test-fired a new SRM, deemed as SMASH22 (Solid Motor Adaptable, Scalable, Half Time/Cost in 22 inch diameter motor) and is planning to static-test another larger SRM, deemed as BAMM29 (Bombardment Attack Missile Motor 29 inch diameter motor). Both these SRMs are built with robotic liner application, a faster way than the long-used manual process, critical tools and nozzles are built with 3D printing, one that uses a low cost propellent, and digital twinning of the engineering design.
The US efforts with SRM are also geared towards deepening cooperation with European partners. Avio, the Italian defence contractor, in December 2025 announced an addition to the US SRM capacities, as it has decided to build an SRM plant in Virginia with preferred access to the plant for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Onshoring of jointly-manufactured weapon systems is on Europe’s agenda. In June 2025, German defence giant Rheinmetall is collaborating with Anduril to build next-generation SRMs for European defence purposes, leveraging Anduril’s new production approaches. Likewise, Germany’s Bayern-Chemie, a subsidiary of MBDA with SRM innovation and manufacturing competencies, and Raytheon will collectively — through their joint venture COMLOG — manufacture the Patriot missiles in Germany from 2026.
Imminent Military Space Applications of SRM
The military demand for SRM is not limited to missiles. The US Space Force, under its Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve and the Tactically Responsive Space mission, is developing on-demand, real-time and tactical orbital launch capabilities. Some 20 contracts under the Reserve are to be awarded to commercial space launch companies in 2026. The US Space Force is looking to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities to ensure a secure supply of space launchers. This is where the transmutation of missiles and quick-reaction launch vehicles, as well as the convergence of their supplies, is becoming a stark reality, as both would likely be solid-fueled.
Quick-reaction launch vehicles are desired by space-capable militaries where a launch vehicle integrated with a tactical spacecraft is stored in launch siloes, road-, rail-, and ship-based canisters or even from an aircraft, and that could be launched from any location and at any time through a set of simplistic commands without the need for elaborate launch preparations. The storage requirements of quick-reaction launch vehicles demand that they be solid-fueled. The Chinese space company, ExPace, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, has built its Kuaizhou series of quick-reaction commercial space launcher directly as a derivative of the Dongfeng-21, China’s intermediate-range ballistic missile that doubles up as an anti-satellite and ballistic missile defence missile. Regular Kuiazhou launches, with the most recent in December 2025, have significantly increased the demand for quick-reaction launch capabilities, particularly for anti-satellite operations and orbital reconnaissance.
Conclusion: What is expected of new-generation SRMs?
Leading SRM manufacturers are busy expanding their manufacturing capacities, and more importantly, infusing advanced types of solid-fuels, including viscous liquids, into the market mix that assist with longer storage, launch system reliability, better energy density, thrust-to-weight ratio, and cleaner components into the fuel.
The voluminous growth in SRM manufacturing serves as a telltale of a long period of ensuing conflicts that militaries worldwide are preparing for.
The SRM state-of-the-art appears to be focusing on low-cost, high-volume, and rapid manufacturing, efficient design involving digital manufacturing and automation, lightweight, strong casings, stealth capabilities, intelligent ignition, and thrust vectoring, all of which are geared to make SRMs suitable for tactical, long-range, fuel-efficient, and stealthy usage.
Many of these innovations would make solid-fueled rockets, including launch vehicles, road and rail mobile and functioning even when unattended over long durations. Large stockpiles of advanced SRMs are considered a deterrent, and nations staring at conflicts would want to keep their SRM innovation, manufacturing installations, supply chains, and stockpiles safe and secure, making SRM an even more critical technology.
The voluminous growth in SRM manufacturing serves as a telltale of a long period of ensuing conflicts that militaries worldwide are preparing for. SRMs find a detailed mention in the list of Equipment, Software and Technology Annexe of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Given the immense demand for SRMs, it is vital to ensure that MTCR is not disregarded, especially by those powers that are ramping up the missile manufacturing for themselves and their military allies.
Chaitanya Giri is a Fellow at the Centre for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Observer Research Foundation.
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