“Supplemental funding was provided to rapidly field CUAS [Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems] solutions for the Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) which included the procurement of Longbow Hellfire launchers, Coyote launchers, and the installation/integration work,” according to a line item in the Navy’s 2027 Fiscal Year budget request.
Rapid fielding driven by recent operational experience
The Navy’s recently released budget documents make explicit that supplemental funding across FY2024 and FY2025 was used “to rapidly field CUAS solutions for the Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the Theodore Roosevelt CSG,” and that the effort included procurements of Longbow Hellfire launchers, Coyote launchers, installations, and integration work. The service links that spending to an urgent need to expand shipboard defenses against uncrewed aerial threats after operational experience in recent years in and around the Red Sea and encounters “against Iran.”
Longbow Hellfire (AGM-114L) as an immediate shipboard option
The Navy budget language and accompanying reporting identify the millimeter-wave radar-guided Longbow Hellfire — also designated AGM-114L — as a capability being rapidly fielded in a missile-launch role against drones. The AGM-114L has a demonstrated counter-drone capability and can also strike targets on land or at sea, the documents and reporting state. The Navy previously modified Freedom class Littoral Combat Ships to fire AGM-114Ls from purpose-built launchers, and the budget line item indicates the Hellfire is now being procured for carrier strike group applications as an urgent CUAS measure.
Coyote interceptors and new launcher configurations on Arleigh Burke destroyers
Alongside Hellfire procurement, the Navy is installing Coyote counter-drone interceptors and new launcher hardware on multiple Arleigh Burke class destroyers. The USS Carl M. Levin, USS John Paul Jones, USS Paul Hamilton, and USS Decatur have received new eight-cell Coyote launchers and are assigned to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. Earlier four-cell Coyote launchers had been installed on the USS Bainbridge and the USS Winston S. Churchill. A Navy spokesperson described the eight-cell launchers as “the first deployment of this launcher which increases the cell count from four to eight and provides increased marinization,” and added the change is non-permanent: “launchers can be removed after the completion of a deployment and transferred to other ships—accelerating the deployment of advanced capabilities throughout the Fleet.”
Lockheed Martin’s Grizzly and other containerized concepts
Industry work to accelerate shipboard launch options is visible in Lockheed Martin’s public activity. In March, Lockheed Martin unveiled a containerized Hellfire launcher called Grizzly, which the company said could be adapted for shipboard use; that development began the previous year. Lockheed Martin has also displayed a model of an Arleigh Burke fitted with six four-cell JAGM Quad Launchers (JQL) — a ship-based launch concept for the AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile derived from the AGM-114R Hellfire variant — though the Navy has given no public indication it is moving to field those JQLs on Arleigh Burke destroyers.
What this means for the Gerald R. Ford CSG, Theodore Roosevelt CSG, and contractors (Lockheed Martin, Anduril, Zone 5, DIU)
- Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group: The 2027 budget line item specifically cites supplemental funding to “rapidly field CUAS solutions” for this CSG, including Longbow Hellfire and Coyote launchers. The documents do not identify which ships in the group may have received the Hellfire launchers or whether they are currently installed.
- Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group: The same line item notes funding was provided to rapidly field CUAS solutions on this CSG, likewise including Longbow Hellfire and Coyote launchers, but again without ship-level specifics in the budget text.
- Contractors and innovation partners: Lockheed Martin’s Grizzly containerized Hellfire and its JQL model represent manufacturer options for rapid shipboard deployment. The Navy is also integrating interceptors developed under Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems – NEXT (Counter-NEXT), where the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) worked with Anduril Industries on the Roadrunner-M interceptor and Zone 5 Technologies on the White Spike interceptor.
Additional test activity reported by the Navy includes a live-fire trial of a palletized AeroVironment LOCUST laser counter-drone system aboard the Nimitz class carrier USS George H.W. Bush in October 2025, underscoring that the service is pursuing both kinetic interceptors and directed-energy options as part of a layered approach.
The budget files and public reporting make clear the Navy is rapidly accelerating the fitment of multiple counter-drone interceptors — whether Longbow Hellfires, Coyotes, Roadrunner-M, White Spike, or palletized laser systems — across carrier strike groups and escort destroyers. At the same time, the Navy’s documents leave an immediate, practical question on the table: which specific ships in the Gerald R. Ford and Theodore Roosevelt groups have received Longbow Hellfire launchers, and are those launchers installed now? The documents assert the funding and intent but do not specify ship-level installs, a detail TWZ and others have sought from Naval Sea Systems Command and Lockheed Martin.
