DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center advances low-cost rocket initiative with live-fire test

The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center’s Direct Support Fires Technology, initiative achieved another key milestone Sept. 17, at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.

The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center’s Direct Support Fires Technology, initiative achieved another key milestone Sept. 17, at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Huntsville, AL. — Sept. 21, 2026 — The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center’s Direct Support Fires Technology, or DSFT, initiative achieved another key milestone Sept. 17, at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Following an August 2025 solicitation, 11 companies entered into Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with DEVCOM AvMC to develop low-cost, mass-produced rockets compatible with current and future launchers. Over the past year, the companies collaborated with the center to develop and assess concepts, culminating in last week’s live-fire demonstration in Utah. During the event, a DSFT pod loaded with 30 rockets was fired in a rapid ripple sequence.

The demonstration collected data on the dynamic environments produced by rapid launches of numerous rockets and will help inform requirements for future capabilities. “This event gives us confidence that the Army’s field artillery missile launchers can generate massed firepower at rates significantly faster than those permitted by currently fielded missile systems,” said Hunter Blackwell, DEVCOM AvMC Fires Capability Area Lead. DSFT addresses the need for highly responsive, massed reinforcing fires for field artillery formations through reloadable pods compatible with the Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions. The rockets are also intended to provide novel effects, including smoke and