The Naval Postgraduate School, working with the Office of Naval Research, has awarded Anduril the Tactical Missile Innovation Prize Challenge, selecting the company’s proposal as the strongest approach for developing the next generation of tactical missile capabilities.

The competition, launched in January 2026, was built around a different question than a traditional defense contract. Instead of asking industry for a finished missile design, organizers sought new ways to develop future all-up-round missile concepts faster, at lower cost, and with greater flexibility for changing battlefield requirements.

More than 40 organizations from U.S. industry, academia, and research institutions entered the challenge. After an initial review of technical credibility and feasibility, the field was narrowed to five finalists, each of whom presented their concepts to a judging panel.

“The NPS-ONR Tactical Missile Innovation Prize Challenge underscores the value of engaging industry in new ways,” said Kaitie Penry, NPS Director of Emerging Technology and Innovation. “The winning submission highlights how innovative thinking and working with NPS can help focus and accelerate prototypes and concepts into more affordable, adaptable capabilities to meet today’s security challenges.”

At the heart of the competition was the missile development process itself. Organizers were looking for practical methods that could shorten the path from concept to fielding while keeping production realistic and scalable.

Anduril’s proposal stood out for its end-to-end approach. The company’s pitch combined digital engineering, modeling and simulation, flight testing, and production planning into a single development pipeline intended to move concepts more quickly toward deployment.

The approach was judged to offer a credible way to lower development, production, and sustainment costs while keeping the design process closely tied to near-term military requirements.

Scalability was another major factor. The proposal emphasized methods that could support faster production growth and mission responsiveness, areas that have become increasingly important as the Pentagon pushes to expand missile and munition capacity.

“New approaches to design that emphasize affordability, producibility, and operational relevance are critical to meeting today’s national security challenges,” said Shelby Ochs, Senior Manager of Advanced Effects at Anduril. “We look forward to continuing our work with the Office of Naval Research and Naval Postgraduate School to deliver disruptive, affordable, and scalable capabilities to the warfighter at speed.”

As the winner, Anduril will receive $200,000 in prize funding from ONR to continue the work.

The Naval Postgraduate School said companies that submitted viable proposals could be considered for a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, allowing continued collaboration with naval research and acquisition teams.

That gives the challenge practical weight beyond the prize itself, creating a possible route from competition concept to formal research and procurement channels.

The initiative was based on research conducted at NPS by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Dillon Pierce, whose doctoral work formed the basis for the challenge.

“Critical warfighter needs demand faster, more practical ways to move from idea to application,” Pierce said. “This challenge highlighted innovative ways to do just that, surfacing promising industry concepts and methodologies focused on delivering capability and capacity to the warfighter faster and more affordably.”

For Anduril, the win adds to its expanding role in defense innovation programs focused on autonomy, advanced effects, and rapid weapons development.