A Budget-Friendly Drone Killer
The U.S. Marine Corps is preparing to equip its approximately 125 legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II), a laser-guided 70mm rocket that offers a dramatically cheaper way to shoot down hostile drones and cruise missiles. The air-to-air variant, designated AGR-20F or FALCO (Fixed Wing, Air Launched, Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordnance), features a proximity fuze with modified guidance algorithms optimized for engaging small aerial targets.
The cost difference is staggering. An APKWS II guidance section runs $15,000 to $20,000 plus $1,000 to $2,000 for the rocket motor, making each round roughly $20,000. Compare that to an AIM-9X Sidewinder at approximately $450,000 or an AIM-120 AMRAAM at roughly $1 million. For the price of a single Sidewinder, the Marines could field more than 20 APKWS rounds.
Magazine Depth Advantage
Beyond unit cost, the APKWS II offers a crucial magazine depth advantage. The rockets are loaded into seven-shot pods, meaning a single weapons station that would normally carry one air-to-air missile can instead carry seven drone-killing rockets. An F/A-18C/D can carry up to 12 traditional air-to-air missiles, but swapping even a few stations for rocket pods dramatically increases the number of available engagements against swarming threats.
This matters because real-world operations have exposed dangerous ammunition shortfalls. During Iran's April 2024 attack on Israel, U.S. fighters actually ran out of missiles mid-engagement while defending against waves of drones and cruise missiles. The Marine Corps' 2026 Aviation Plan lists "high-density low-cost C-UAS/cruise missile capability" as a top priority, directly responding to these operational lessons.
