Mystery US Navy Launcher Identified as Upgraded Coyote Missile Launcher

An upgraded Coyote Counter-UAS (C-UAS) launcher has been put in on the Pearl Harbor-based USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), marking the primary identified devoted shipboard launcher for Raytheon’s combat-proven C-UAS on a US Navy ship.

The service has been grappling with a collection of shortcomings associated to counter-UAS capabilities because it started fight operations within the Middle East in 2023, together with one occasion of a near-impact in June 2025 that left a US Navy destroyer with just 100 yards to spare from being hit by a hostile drone. To complement the present spectrum of anti-air weapons like ESSM and SM-6, the service has been experimenting with a variety of recent capabilities that have been examined on ships within the USS Gerald R. Ford CSG.

Now, the US Navy is tough urgent in direction of a devoted suite of counter-UAS programs as a part of its C-UAS Afloat program, Naval News you may have discovered.

The launcher seen on the Carl M. Levin is the primary in a collection of upgrades being put in on 4 ships throughout the fleet as a part of the following Carrier Strike Group (CSG) deployment. The launcher doubles the capability of Coyote missiles from 4 to eight missiles and adapts the launcher for situations at sea, in response to a Navy spokesperson.

The US Navy will even proceed to leverage current belongings for its numerous defensive and offensive enhancement applications, in response to the spokesperson. The set up of this new Coyote launcher is the primary “clear and repeatable model for accelerating the deployment of advanced capabilities throughout the Fleet”.

Anduril’s Roadrunner, RTX’s Coyote, and BAE Systems’ Hypervelocity Projectile have been all examined in the course of the ford‘s east coast pre-deployment trials, with not less than two of these programs identified to have been deployed on 4 ships in response to the operational experiences of ship crews within the Red Sea and Mediterranean, which Aviation Week was first to report on.

Previous variants of the Coyote C-UAS launcher have been seen on USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and featured only a few variations in comparison with its mainstream land-based counterparts.

Current Coyote interceptors are available in two variants, the Coyote Block 2 kinetic interceptor and Coyote Block 3NK non-kinetic interceptor. The Block 2 variant has seen use in the course of the battle in Iran, together with situations the place Coyote interceptors served as the final line of protection guarding vital infrastructure. The Block 3 non-kinetic variant has been proven success in RTX-led testing.

Funding for C-UAS first got here for pressing necessities within the Red Sea and wider Middle East. With a blockade now underway in the Gulf of OmanIt is unclear if the US Navy plans to ship a Pacific-based CSG to CENTCOM.