An updated variant of Raytheon's Coyote Block 2 counter-drone interceptor is taking shape, with engineers replacing the small jet engine that powered earlier versions with a solid rocket motor. The Block 2C+RM variant — equipped with a redesigned seeker and an updated warhead — falls on the surface-to-air portion of the interceptor spectrum as a result of these modifications.
Upgrades to velocity, operational reach, and the precision of final-approach interception are intended to counter the shifting threat posed by one-way-attack drones. Accumulated field data from U.S. military deployments attributes more than 600 confirmed intercepts to the Coyote Block 2 platform, a track record built through active operational use rather than testing alone.
The Coyote Block 2C+RM entered public view during the opening days of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual flagship conference. Development of the propulsion-driven variant has extended across roughly 15 months, during which engineers carried out three live launch trials, each returning a passing result. Ground-level firings of the propulsion unit — sourced from a subcontractor whose identity has not been disclosed — along with a range of additional evaluations, preceded that milestone.
Talks between the Pentagon, the Army, and RTX — the company formerly known as Raytheon — have centred on advancing the Block 2C+RM variant, though it remains an open question whether any formal procurement contracts for that version are currently in place. Procurement documents have identified the Army as the leading known user of Coyote Block 2-series interceptors, with a formally announced acquisition target of no fewer than 6,000 units spread across the five fiscal years running from 2025 through 2029.
Current Coyote Block 2 variants are powered by a turbojet engine. A compact booster stage powers the initial phase of each interceptor's ascent before separating from the weapon prior to the completion of the full trajectory.
Tom Laliberty, president of Raytheon's Land and Air Defense Systems, told reporters ahead of the announcement that the rocket motor would deliver faster launch speeds and higher in-flight velocity. He declined to offer specifics on range, noting only that the difference was considerable and that the missile's terminal-phase performance — where velocity becomes a factor — would be meaningfully altered. Laliberty described the seeker and warhead upgrades as targeting the more advanced drone capabilities being fielded by opposing forces, without providing further detail on either improvement.
Onboard radio frequency seekers built into the Block 2-series Coyote handle target acquisition during the final approach, drawing their initial guidance from ground-based radars and a broader network of detection sensors. Blast-fragmentation warheads are reported to be fitted to them as well.
Laliberty was asked during the call whether the development of Block 2C+RM had been driven by a newer generation of jet-propelled, one-way-attack drones capable of higher speeds — including Iran's Shahed 238 and the Geran-4 and Geran-5 variants derived from Russian adaptations of that design. When asked whether Block 2C+RM could handle conventional cruise missiles, Laliberty noted that specifics about particular threats were not something he could address, though he explained that the system was designed to cover the full range of Class 3 drones and that this category overlaps considerably with the performance envelope of cruise missiles.
The U.S. military places drones in its Group 3 category when their weight falls between 56 and 1,320 pounds, their operational ceiling reaches up to 18,000 feet, and their top airspeed stays at or below 250 knots. The Shahed 236, which runs on a conventional combustion engine rather than the jet propulsion found in its successor the Shahed 238, falls within the Group 3 classification of loitering munitions designed for one-way attack missions. Jet-powered variants in this group advertise top-end velocities somewhere between 270 and 320 knots, figures that sit at the outer edge of what the broad middle tier is generally understood to accommodate.
Hostilities involving Iran, alongside armed conflicts that have unfolded across the Middle East over recent years and the continuing fighting in Ukraine, have demonstrated that even lower-speed Group 3 loitering munitions pose a documented threat. Deploying such weapons in high volumes, or weaving them into layered strikes alongside ballistic and cruise missiles, compounds the threat they pose considerably.
According to Raytheon, the Coyote Block 2C+RM variant reduces reaction time relative to earlier models, giving operators more options when countering coordinated drone attacks. Compatibility extends across the full range of existing four-cell and eight-cell launcher configurations, whether deployed aboard naval vessels, mounted on ground vehicles, or fixed at static land-based positions.
The Coyote Block 2 interceptor has found its principal operational home within the U.S. Army's force structure, deployed across both vehicle-mounted and palletized configurations of its Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System, known as LIDS. Fixed-site variants of LIDS have seen deployment at forward locations under Air Force management. Coyote Block 2 launchers have also been fitted aboard a number of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers operating within the Navy's fleet.
Priced at roughly $100,000 per unit according to past figures, the Coyote interceptor sits at the more affordable end of the air-defence market. No pricing details have been released to indicate where the rocket-powered variant would sit relative to established models already on the market. Analysts place the per-unit production price of a Shahed 236 at roughly $50,000.
Coyote Block 2C+RM remains under development, with its timeline for entering operational use with any customer still undetermined. Laliberty noted that further test events are planned through the first half of next year, that Raytheon's funding commitment continues alongside what has become a degree of government backing as the system moves toward program-of-record status, and that the precise structure of that arrangement with the Department of the Army is still being worked out. The company indicated that follow-on Coyote contracts could incorporate the turbine-powered option, while jet-propelled Block 2 variants remain in production for the foreseeable future.
Agreements to deliver those same interceptor systems extend to Qatar and Jordan as purchasing nations, separate from the arrangements held with the U.S. military. Within the broader Coyote drone lineup — a portfolio that has continued to expand — the Block 2 series occupies one position among several variants. Alongside the original electric-motor pusher-propeller configuration that gave rise to the Block 1 platform, a distinct Block 3 variant of the Coyote drone has been undergoing its own programme of development. Among the variants covered are units outfitted to operate as loitering munitions and others adapted to intercept drones through payloads that rely on non-kinetic means. Procurement of both Block 3 variants and Block 2 interceptors is currently underway within the U.S. Army's acquisition pipeline.
