The U.S. Air Force is asking the defense industry whether companies can deliver a new cruise missile intended for Ukraine. The service is seeking information about production capacity, technical capabilities, and the speed at which contractors could begin supplying the weapon.

The weapon is known as the Extended Range Attack Munition, or ERAM. It is envisioned as a small cruise missile that can be launched from aircraft, strike targets from standoff range, and enter mass production.

Potential contractors must describe their ability to provide ERAM under a new Air Force Request For Information. The deadline for industry responses is Nov. 19, giving interested companies a defined window to explain what they can build and deliver.

The request includes several technical specifications for the proposed missile. ERAM should be a 500 pound class weapon with a range exceeding 250 nautical miles and a speed greater than Mach 0.6.

The Air Force also wants terminal accuracy within 10 meters of the intended target. That standard is expected even when the weapon encounters jamming or degraded GPS during the final portion of its flight.

ERAM must provide both blast and fragmentation effects against its target. The proposed missile should also have the ability to achieve limited penetration when it strikes, adding another requirement for companies interested in the program.

The Air Force describes ERAM as a next-generation cruise missile “designed to provide affordable mass to the fight,” while also saying it “delivers a precision-guided, stand-off capability against high-value fixed targets.” Those requirements place affordability, production volume, range, and accuracy at the center of the effort.

ERAM is part of a broader Pentagon push to field cheaper weapons on a faster development schedule. The program reflects an effort to move from initial industry outreach to testing and production without the extended timelines often associated with major weapons programs.

In 2024, the Air Force awarded contracts to two small defense companies, Zone 5 Technologies and CoAspire, to develop ERAM prototypes. Those awards followed the original Request For Information that the service published in January 2024.

The Air Force conducted a live warhead test at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in January 2026. That test occurred less than a year and a half after the prototype contracts were awarded to Zone 5 Technologies and CoAspire.

The latest industry request carries an equally aggressive proposed production schedule. Companies should be prepared to deliver the first missiles from a planned order of more than 1,000 ERAMs no later than three months after the contract is awarded.

The Air Force wants the full delivery run completed within 15 months. That timetable would require the selected contractor to begin production quickly and sustain deliveries until the entire quantity is provided.

One unresolved question is whether Ukraine is already using ERAM aboard its F-16 fighters made in America. The source does not establish that such operational use has been confirmed.

The Trump administration announced an $825 million sale of 3,350 ERAMs to Ukraine in August 2025. That planned sale involved a considerably larger quantity than the more than 1,000 missiles referenced in the latest Air Force industry request.

Ukrainian media reported in June 2026 that Ukraine may have used the AGM-188A Rusty Dagger, described as an ERAM version, against the Voronezh Semiconductor Plant. The plant makes components used in Russian missiles, according to the report.

A separate question concerns how extensively the U.S. military might use ERAM. The original Air Force request appeared in January 2024, nearly two years into the Ukraine War and nearly two years before the Iran war depleted American inventories of expensive missiles.

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