The U.S. Air Force has released the first image of its new nuclear-armed stealth cruise missile, the AGM-181A Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO).
Developed by Raytheon, the missile is designed to replace the aging AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile, which has been in service since the Cold War.
Analysts from The War Zone observed that the newly released image shows a missile with several features resembling the AGM-158 JASSM, including an inverted tail, stealthy contours, and a trapezoidal fuselage with a wedge-shaped nose. The wing design also closely mirrors that of the JASSM.
Details about the AGM-181A LRSO’s capabilities remain classified, but it is expected to be subsonic with greater range and improved stealth compared to earlier models.
The missile is designed to be carried by both the upcoming B-21 Raider and the upgraded B-52 Stratofortress bombers, and will be armed with the updated W80-4 thermonuclear warhead.
The LRSO is part of a broader Long Range Strike program, which includes the B-21 bomber and new communications and command systems.
According to a 2023 Pentagon report, the LRSO program is projected to cost just over $16 billion for 1,020 missiles, with an additional $7 billion allocated for maintenance over a 30-year period.
More recent estimates place the cost of a single missile at approximately $14 million.
