Latvia is moving to acquire Anduril Industries’ Barracuda family of long-range cruise missiles, a purchase that would make it the first Baltic state to field a strike weapon of that reach, following a visit by President Edgars Rinkēvičs to the American company’s California facilities on 25 September, the president stated in a post published after the visit.
Writing on X, Mr Rinkēvičs said: “It was great to visit Anduril to meet with Palmer Luckey and to witness signing of memoranda of cooperation with MOD of Latvia and Origin Robotics. Looking forward to complete acquisition of Barracuda long-range missiles and Latvian-US defense industry cooperation.”
Neither Latvia nor Anduril has disclosed which variant is wanted, how many missiles would be bought, the price or a delivery date.
The Barracuda-500M, the long-range member of the family, has a range of more than 500 nautical miles, or around 926 kilometres, which is roughly three times the reach of the ATACMS rounds Latvia has ordered for its HIMARS launchers. Given that the country operates no fast jets and has a limited helicopter fleet, a ground-launched configuration would be the obvious route for it to take.
Anduril offers the family as an answer to a shortfall in affordable, producible long-range precision weapons, claiming it requires half the production time, 95 per cent fewer tools and half the parts of comparable weapons. The variants can operate autonomously and collaboratively with one another, acting as decoys as well as conducting strikes, and can be launched from fighters, helicopters, cargo aircraft, ships and ground launchers.
Production is already being scaled up on both sides of the Atlantic. The American Department of War signed a framework agreement in May for at least 1,000 surface-launched Barracuda-500Ms a year over three years for the United States Army, starting in 2027, and in July the Polish state group PGZ agreed to assemble and later produce the same variant at its Military Aviation Works No. 2 plant at Bydgoszcz. PGZ has said European production could make the missile eligible for purchase by other EU member states under the bloc’s SAFE defence loan programme.
The second agreement signed during the visit concerns counter-drone work, and under it Origin Robotics, based in Riga, is to integrate its BLAZE autonomous interceptor into Anduril’s Lattice command and control system, giving a layered counter-uncrewed aircraft capability for Latvia and NATO’s eastern flank. BLAZE is a briefcase-sized interceptor using radar and camera guidance, while the company’s BEAK drone is already in service with Ukrainian forces.
Latvia has not said whether any Barracuda production, assembly or other industrial work would be carried out in the country however, though its Investment and Development Agency says the defence technology delegation now in the United States is seeking opportunities covering joint development, testing, manufacturing, system integration and supply chains.
Is this wise now that it is possible that America pulls out of NATO or at least reduces it’s commitment to the treaty?
The American Senate passed a law in 2024 preventing Trump from withdrawing from NATO. This will not, however prevent Hegseth from withdrawing 25,000 American troops from Europe following the latest “very good” two hour telecon between Trump, the Russian asset and his chum, the war criminal Putin
Trump and his Republican MAGA party are slated to lose control of both the House and Senate after November’s mid term elections. Meaning Trump will be a lame duck president for the rest of his term. He and his family will be investigated for multiple allegations of corruption and Trump will likely get inpeached for an unprecedented third time
We can only hope sanity returns to the US.
I’m sure US population sanity is just fine.
Yes as individuals, but not Politically… its gone bonkers… it has a massive political discourse issue, which its enemies are using to destabilise it.
Another ignorant and rather stupid Brit. First of all, you don’t know what the term “lame duck” means in the American context. Second. Try reading the US constitution and the delegation and separation of powers, specifically Article II and the powers of the Executive Branch. The US is a constitutional republic and not a Parliamentary system with an unelected head of state. Trump still maintains all of his powers after January 3, 2027.By the way, current odds have the Republicans favored to gain seats in the Senate and the House being a toss-up. But then you never did know what you were talking about when it comes to the States, like most Brits.
Wow. Touched a raw nerve there.
Personally I am not a great believer in commenting on the politics of other Countries just as they should not, in my opinion, interfere in ours.
I’m sure we will all watch with interest to see the will of the American people at this point in time.
I’m sure many will be eager to have their say.
There is likely nothing the US can do to stop an existing holder of Barracuda missiles from firing them. The system is much simpler than say storm shadow and won’t have the same need for hyper accurate topographical radar maps.
Jim,
Probably true, but not certain whether anyone has recognized the true subtext embedded w/in this specific article, to wit: Anduril Industries has fully embraced the concept of cost-effectiveness as a design criterion in all weapons systems development. Anduril Industries, if it remains on this course, will inevitably become a proverbial eight hundred pound gorilla w/in the US MIC. True competition will be injected into the process, bending the cost curve of weapon systems development. Suggestion for ENATO MIC: Form business partnerships w/ Anduril, avoid the NIH (not invented here) business philosophy, learn from demonstrated successes. Intriguing suggestion for European citizens: Purchase Anduril Industries stock if/when available, hold indefinitely and eventually thank yourself for making a possibly/probably quite lucrative investment. And no, have no conflicts of interest re this matter. 🤔
I think more and more European NATO nations are coming to the same correct conclusion.. deterrence has never been about defence, it’s alway been about offensive and the ability to inflict pain on a nation.. if you cannot inflict pain on a nation it has nothing to stop it attacking and inflicting pain on you..
Latvia must decide where best to spend their money.
I’m sure their point needs to be make should a war break out.
The US Congress has the last say irrespective of what the Executive do or don’t do with regard to the US withdrawing or stepping back from NATO. If the Republicans do badly in the forthcoming American mid-terms, the stage will be set where the American political incumbents of both the Senate and Congress will start fearing for their seats in their General Election in two years time, exactly like what happened in Britain just recently. Members of The Senate and Congress may not be able to unseat their existing President now but they will know what the implications are for the next election and vote accordingly.