Air Force Says C-17s Will Soon Airdrop Pallets of Cruise Missiles, and Wants 28,000 of Them

Senior U.S. Air Force leaders say the service is close to using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to airdrop palletized cruise missiles, a shift that would turn mobility planes into launch platforms for the Family of Affordable Mass Missiles. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told airmen at the Airlift/Tanker Association symposium in Kissimmee, Florida, on Nov. 6 that he was “excited” about arming the mobility fleet with the palletized version, known as FAMM-P, but that “the concept is more complex than just rolling dumb munitions off the back of an airplane,” Air & Space Forces Magazine reported on Nov. 8.

How a cargo plane would launch cruise missiles

The palletized concept puts a specialized container loaded with cruise missiles on a standard airdrop platform. The container is released like other airdrop loads, deploys a parachute, and then the weapons are released, ignite their engines, pull up and fly toward a target, the magazine reported. “This system is modular and smart; the weapons are networked and affordable,” Wilsbach said. Capabilities like FAMM-P, he added, “blur the distinction” between combat and mobility air forces, “a cultural shift we need to be prepared for.”

Lt. Gen. Dan Tulley, the head of Air Mobility Command, also told the conference that C-130s and C-17s could deliver “mass fires on the adversary” through FAMM-P, according to the magazine. Aviation Week, reporting from the same symposium on Nov. 6, said service leaders told attendees that mobility aircraft would be able to start deploying large numbers of cruise missiles in the “very near future,” and that the change of mission would require a “mind shift” among aircrews.

The current FAMM program grew out of Air Force Research Laboratory experiments known as Rapid Dragon, which began in 2019, and out of an effort previously known as Franklin that sought cruise missiles for about $100,000 each, compared with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, which the magazine said can cost between $1.5 million and $2.6 million each. In April, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center made the effort an official program of record under the name Dragon Cart, with a goal of fielding in 2027, according to an April 30 service release. In July, the Pentagon announced framework agreements for multiyear deals with three companies to produce and develop two versions: FAMM-Lugged, for fighter aircraft, and FAMM-P, for airlifters, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.

What the budget request would buy

In its fiscal 2027 budget request, the Air Force is asking for $355 million to procure 1,000 FAMM weapons, according to budget documents cited by the magazine. Budget projections show plans to acquire 28,000 FAMM missiles over the next five years, at a price tag of $12.6 billion. Wilsbach said each FAMM-P “costs about a tenth” of one JASSM, and that the lead time is “months, not years.” “Solutions like FAMM-P augment fighter rails and bomber bays to creatively scale our combat power at a fraction of the time and cost of more exquisite options,” he said.

By The Boston Report’s calculation from those budget figures, $12.6 billion for 28,000 missiles would average about $450,000 per round if the total were spent only on missiles. That average is not an official unit price: the five-year total may include more than procurement of the rounds themselves, and Wilsbach’s “about a tenth” comparison to a JASSM would imply a lower figure if the JASSM range of $1.5 million to $2.6 million is used. The official documents, as summarized in the reporting, do not break the $12.6 billion into unit cost, development and other accounts.

Why the Air Force is pushing cheaper mass

U.S. strike aircraft used roughly 1,100 JASSMs during Operation Epic Fury out of an estimated 4,400 in the inventory before the Iran war, according to an April report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies cited by Air & Space Forces Magazine. The same report said JASSMs take two years to go from order to delivery. By The Boston Report’s calculation from those CSIS figures, the campaign used about 25 percent of the prewar inventory, leaving about 3,300 missiles if no additional rounds were delivered in the meantime. CSIS estimated the starting stockpile; the Pentagon has not, in the accounts reviewed here, published a later official remainder.

That wartime drawdown is the backdrop for the cheaper missile push, but FAMM-P is not yet a fielded combat system. Dragon Cart became a program of record only in April. The Air Force described a 2027 fielding goal in its April release and is still seeking fiscal 2027 money for the first 1,000 rounds. Aviation Week’s “very near future” wording came from service leaders at a conference; it is not the same as a declared initial operational capability date.

What still has to happen

The April Air Force release said Dragon Cart is meant to integrate standard airlift and airdrop equipment with a government-owned battle-management system, so palletized FAMM loads can be rolled onto an airlifter, dropped and dispensed in mid-air. JiaJia Lee, the program manager, said the program “gives us the option to transform mobility aircraft into powerful strike platforms.” The release also said the program planned to award prototype contracts in May and is using a middle-tier rapid-fielding pathway. Those are service plans, not evidence that cargo aircraft are already launching cruise missiles on operations.

Funding is also unsettled. The fiscal 2027 defense request is now caught up in a post-midterm fight over the size of the budget, and Air & Space Forces Magazine has reported that a long-term continuing resolution could affect several Air Force missile programs, including FAMM. Until Congress acts, the $355 million first buy and the longer 28,000-missile plan remain requests.

Sources

• Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Leaders: C-17s Will Soon Be Armed with Pallets of Cruise Missiles (Nov. 8, 2026)
• Aviation Week: U.S. Air Force Airlifters To Deploy Missiles In the ‘Very Near Future’ (Nov. 6, 2026)
• Air Force Life Cycle Management Center: Air Force Advances Dragon Cart Palletized Effects Program (April 30, 2026)