"Selected to advance to the demonstration phase of the development effort. Additional information regarding the competitive effort will be released when appropriate," the Army spokesperson said in a statement.
Army advances Lockheed and Boeing‑Anduril to IFPC Increment 2 demonstration phase
The Army has chosen Lockheed Martin and a Boeing‑Anduril team to move into phase two of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2 interceptor prototype program, a service spokesperson told Breaking Defense on Sept. 11, 2026. The decision eliminates a U.S. subsidiary of the Israeli company Rafael from the competition, according to the Army statement and reporting.
The Army framed the selection as the next step in a competitive development effort; the service did not disclose technical scoring or timelines beyond confirming the two companies' advancement to a demonstration phase. The spokesperson further said additional information would be released when appropriate.
Boeing‑Anduril interceptor: seeker, compact form, Anduril motor, open architecture
Boeing described its interceptor in a company press release as combining "seeker technology, a compact form factor, a solid rocket motor supplied by Anduril Rocket Motor Systems and a Modular Open Systems Architecture." Boeing emphasized a "scalable production approach" designed to field what it called "a reliable, affordable layer of defense against a range of aerial threats."
Bob Ciesla, vice president of Boeing Precision Engagement Systems, said the approach is intended "to protect the warfighter with practical, dependable capability when it matters most." Boeing’s public comments followed the Army’s September selection and came after Lockheed deferred queries about the decision to the Army and Rafael did not respond to a request for comment.
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See what we buildLockheed’s earlier role and the program timeline
Lockheed was not new to IFPC Increment 2 work: the Army awarded Lockheed an other‑transaction authority (OTA) for phase one of the program in October 2025. The Boeing‑Anduril team was announced as participating in December 2025, and Rafael's U.S. presence was added to the competition in February (the reporting does not specify the year for that February, but places these events in sequence).
The current IFPC Increment 2 effort follows a program track that began more than two years earlier, when the Army started seeking a second interceptor for its developmental IFPC Increment 2 launcher. In late 2024 the Army awarded the first IFPC Increment 2 interceptor deal to Dynetics, a Leidos subsidiary, and RTX. That solution paired Dynetics’s new developmental launcher, called Enduring Shield, with a ground‑launched AIM‑9X Sidewinder from RTX.
Dynetics‑RTX Enduring Shield and the operational gap that sparked a second interceptor
Service officials discovered during use of the Enduring Shield launcher that soldiers would require a second, "more capable" interceptor to engage lower‑flying, supersonic cruise missiles. That assessment was made public in June 2024 by then‑Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s Program Acquisition Executive for Fires; the report notes Lozano now has a third star.
The identified gap between short‑range air defenses and longer‑range systems like Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is the operational rationale the Army gives for IFPC Increment 2: the program is designed to fill that capability space.
What this means for Rafael’s U.S. subsidiary, the Army acquisition office, and front‑line warfighters
- Rafael’s U.S. subsidiary: The company was removed from the competition at this phase. Rafael did not respond to a request for comment, according to reporting.
- The Army acquisition office: With Lockheed and the Boeing‑Anduril team selected for demonstration, the acquisition office will move the program into prototype demonstrations and continue to withhold further competitive details until it deems additional information appropriate to release.
- Front‑line soldiers and warfighters: The Army’s operational finding — that Enduring Shield needs a second, more capable interceptor to address lower‑flying, supersonic cruise missiles — remains the driver of this effort. The selection signals the service’s commitment to fielding that secondary capability through a demonstration phase aimed at closing that specific engagement gap.
The Army’s Sept. 11 announcement marks the next formal step in a competition that began in earnest more than two years ago, proceeded through a series of prototype awards and additions, and now moves into demonstrations with two selected teams. The service has made clear it will provide further details in its own time; for now, the demonstrators — Lockheed and Boeing‑Anduril — carry the task of proving which approach best fills the intercept gap between short‑range systems and high‑end, long‑range defenses.
