Developing and building next-generation strike systems and technology for today's warfighter

Dynetics is leading the way in developing new classes of weapons to support our warfighters and defend our nation.

We are leveraging decades of weapon systems engineering and manufacturing capabilities to develop weapon systems that are essential, effective, flexible, and low cost. Our products and capabilities provide end to end support for military systems.

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Strike Systems Capabilities

Dynetics provides technical capabilities that are vital from concept exploration through production.

Warhead Design and Development

We design, develop, and produce tailored blast/fragmenting, penetrating, and programmable effects warheads, including their integration with fuzing to produce self-contained systems. Visit our Weapons Technologies page for more details and see our influence within this industry.

Collaborative Autonomy

As a major element of the Department of Defense (DoD) third offset strategy, we focus on developing low-cost, heterogeneous swarms of effector and sensor platforms that can autonomously collaborate to accomplish missions with minimal human supervision. These swarm systems are designed to adapt to changing threat and target tactics to maximize mission success, particularly in anti-access/area-denied environments.

Rapid Prototyping

We provide quick response and rapid product development for the DoD. Our customers can count on our commitment to quality to guarantee they meet their customers' demands. We build hardware products using our ISO 9001:2008 certified process, and we develop software products under our Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 3 certified quality program. Visit our subsidiary Dynetics Technical Solutions (DTS) to learn more about our 50,000+ square feet of highly automated machines, fabrication, and product integration capabilities.

Combat Training and Test Solutions

We provide our customers with training and test solutions for every area of their strategy. Dynetics has a rich history in airborne test and evaluation, providing quality hardware and software solutions to support the DoD test and training community. Some of our combat test and training solutions include the following:

Advanced data acquisition systems for rugged environments
Specialized ground support equipment aircraft, rotorcraft, and unmanned systems
Secure radio frequency (RF) data link transmitters and receivers
Electronic warfare systems and simulators
Directed energy evaluation systems
Electro-optics/infrared (EO/IR) evaluation systems
High-fidelity targets
Specialized launchers and other support equipment for missile and unmanned systems testing
Modeling and simulation

Visit our Weapons Technology page for more details about our services.

Programs

Small Glide Munition (SGM) - GBU-69/B

The SGM is an enhanced capability, stand-off precision guided munition (SOPGM) that can be carried on AC-130 gunships or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The SGM features a modular design, allowing multiple common variants and considerable design flexibility. By mounting the seeker nose section, tail kit, and wing assembly directly to the warhead case, the SGM allows different seekers, warheads, and other subsystems to be readily incorporated.

The SGM is integrated into a common launch tube and is compatible with the battle management system. The baseline SGM design incorporates a 36-lb blast-fragmentation warhead that can be detonated either on impact or using a variable height of burst sensor. The munition offers an all-azimuth launch capability, while its deployable wing provides significant stand-off range, resulting in a large weapon footprint and a corresponding increase in armed over-watch area.

The semiactive laser-guided munition uses lattice control fins for aerodynamic stability and control, similar to Dynetics-developed designs used on the GBU 43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) munition and the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).

The United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command (ARSOAC), working in conjunction with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), has successfully conducted testing of baseline and enhanced system capability Block I variants of the Dynetics GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) from an ARSOAC MQ-1C ER Gray Eagle medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). These flight tests are the first SGM drops conducted from a UAS and represent an expanded platform set from which the munition can be employed.

In addition, the Block I variant incorporates a two-way datalink to enhance the capabilities of the SGM allowing the weapon to be a part of a network consisting of other airborne platforms and tactical air controllers.

Initial development of the SGM began in 2013 in conjunction with a collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Program Executive Office for Fixed Wing Aircraft.

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Gremlins

Gremlins are low-cost, reusable UAS for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Gremlins will be launched from existing military aircraft while out of range of adversary defenses. The Gremlins architecture enables other critical technologies, such as advanced payloads, autonomous operations, and distributed battle management of swarming systems. When Gremlins complete their mission, a C-130 transport aircraft retrieves them in the air and transports them to a base of operations, where ground crews refurbish and prepare them for their next use within 24 hours.

Dynetics Gremlins Timeline

Dynetics was one of four companies awarded a Phase 1 contract for the Gremlins program in 2016. Phase 2 was awarded in March 2017 to two of the initial four performers, and Phase 3 followed in April 2018. The maiden flight of the X-61A occurred in November 2019, flying as predicted with no anomalies in the operational system. The second flight test was in July 2020, and the third test series occurred in November 2020.

In October 2021, Dynetics achieved a new milestone in unmanned aviation by successfully launching and retrieving an X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle (GAV) during the program's fourth flight test event at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The Gremlins Demonstration System flew three GAVs, previously flown in 2020, to conduct four individual flight sorties for a combined 6.7 hours of flight, including the 1.4-hour airborne recovery mission. The testing pace required a quick-turn refurbishment for one of the GAVs that took approximately 24 hours to complete.

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DARPA Air Combat Evolution

The DARPA Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program seeks to reform aerial dogfighting by implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) into high-intensity air conflicts and increasing warfighter trust in combat autonomy. Similar to how the United States military trains fighter pilots, ACE performers will work to increase trust in visual range, air-to-air dogfighting. As algorithms and tactics mature, so will the scenarios and adversarial capabilities.

During the 18-month Phase 1 award, Dynetics leveraged program advances in automated dogfighting to enable operational-level scenarios with a large number of heterogeneous aircraft. By improving the algorithms and tactics developed within ACE, TA3 laid the groundwork for future live, campaign-level experimentation of manned and unmanned vehicles. In February 2022, Dynetics advanced to Phase 2.

The program consists of three phases. Phase 1 begins research in a simulated environment. Phase 2 advances to a flight environment using unmanned air vehicles. Phase 3 includes a realistic, manned flight environment involving complex human-machine collaboration.

Download Airborne Autonomy PDF

Enduring Shield

Enduring Shield is a mobile ground-based weapon system designed to acquire, track, engage, and defeat unmanned aircraft systems, cruise missiles, rockets, artillery, and mortars.

Derived from Dynetics technology and modified around previous Army science and technology programs, Enduring Shield is capable of firing a range of missiles while providing current and future growth capabilities. In creating Enduring Shield, Dynetics redesigned the launcher, created cost efficiencies, reduced complexity, and refined capabilities. The system offers a 360-degree envelope with the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously. It can be fully integrated with the Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System and offers both cyber resiliency and electronic warfare protections.

In September 2021, Dynetics was awarded a contract by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space for the Enduring Indirect Fires Protection Capability (IFPC). The transportable system is designed to engage and defeat Cruise Missile (CM) and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) threats. The award is worth an estimated value of $237 million over the next 2.5 years. The contract also includes the option for follow on production of 400 launchers with associated interceptors.