On the sidelines of the “Sea Air Space – SAS 2024” exhibition, Lockheed Martin unveiled the new Mako hypersonic missile.

The missile in question was designed and developed as a proposal by the manufacturing company for the “Stand in Attack Weapon – SiAW” armament program and reflects the growing interest in more affordable hypersonic strike weapon systems.

According to the company, Mako, powered by a solid-fuel rocket engine, is being called “the 13s missile”. This reflects the missile’s technical characteristics – 13 feet long (4 meters), 13 inches in diameter (33 cm) and weighing 1,300 pounds (590 kg), including a 130-pound (59 kg) warhead.

It is a hypersonic weapon system, which can reach a speed of at least Mach 5, without the company mentioning the type of flight profile the missile uses, nor its operational range.

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As reported by TWZ, the supersonic Mako-type missile is multi-role, as it can be used against ships, land-based infrastructure and even air defence systems. So far, its compatibility with F-22, F-16, F-15, F/A-18 fighters has been certified, whereas in the future its compatibility with P-8 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft will also be certified.

Further, fifth-generation F-35-type stealth multi-role fighters can use it; however, in terms of the F-35A and F-35C, the Mako-type missile can be mounted inside the fuselage, thus maintaining the fighters’ stealth properties to the maximum extent. Also, in the case of the F-35B (similarly to the F-22), this new missile is installed on external carriers.

The ability to use Mako in different naval platforms is something Lockheed Martin has been exploring with another company, CoAspire, with which it is partnering on the program.

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