Divergent says a cruise-missile airframe went from clean sheet to first flight in 16 weeks

Apr. 24, 2025 — Divergent Technologies and CoAspire said the RAACM low-cost cruise missile went from clean-sheet design to a successful first flight test in 16 weeks, with Divergent delivering printed and robot-assembled airframe structures in 10. Here's what happened, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Apr. 24, 2025)

Outcome: The release headline says "Clean Sheet to First Flight in 16 Weeks," with a flight test "that met customer and programmatic requirements." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)
Cost: No program cost or unit price was disclosed. Divergent says its system eliminates "upfront capex." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)
Milestones: The plan required first fuselages, wings and fins "within 10 weeks, with fully integrated test rounds entering ground testing within 14 weeks." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

Where the time went

CoAspire and Divergent set a roadmap requiring "delivery of first fuselages, wings and fins from Divergent within 10 weeks." Divergent used in-house digital tools to "rapidly converge together on a cost effective and manufacturable design that optimized for fuel tank capacity while meeting all structural performance requirements." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

The team then "seamlessly transitioned from digital design to additive manufacturing and automated assembly, with manufacturing instructions generated from the designs dynamically assigned to the company's software defined manufacturing assets." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

After first hardware at week 10, Divergent supplied "digital design, analysis, and manufacturing artifacts required for the air worthiness approval process." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

No tooling to wait for

Divergent credits its Adaptive Production System (DAPS), which combines "AI-driven design, industrial-rate additive manufacturing, and universal robotic assembly." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

"Our strength is this next generation capability to digitally engineer and manufacture to deliver first-time-right, production ready hardware within 10 weeks," said CEO Lukas Czinger. "RAACM is a case study in what's possible when adaptability is built into every phase of development." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

"Divergent has rewritten the rules of development speed for complex flight vehicles," said CoAspire founder and CEO Doug Denneny. "The flexibility that Divergent has provided on such a tight schedule was key to enabling our flight-test and program success." (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

The missile

RAACM, under contract with the Air Force, is "designed to be modular, scalable, adaptable and rapidly deployable across air, land, and sea platforms." It has a deployable wing, a turbojet engine and a guidance system, and can be launched from any aircraft compatible with the GBU-38. (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

CoAspire, of Fairfax, Va., was founded in 2013 and is the prime contractor. It said its supply chain spans 26 U.S. states and two European countries. (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)

CoAspire's product page says RAACM is "an additively manufactured (3D printed) cruise missile" that, by design, "requires no tooling during assembly, greatly reducing touch labor and cost." It says the goal is a cruise missile "at a fraction of the cost of other air-launched cruise missiles," and that RAACM has flown in tests from an A-4 Skyhawk jet. (CoAspire RAACM page)

CoAspire posted that it had "a very successful RAACM Test Flight on June 20, 2025," two months after the 16-week announcement; the post gives no further detail. Its product page cites "long range flights in the summer of 2025." (CoAspire, June 20, 2025; CoAspire RAACM page)

What went wrong

Tooling usually sets the pace. CoAspire says RAACM was designed for 3D printing so that it "requires no tooling during assembly, greatly reducing touch labor and cost." (CoAspire RAACM page)
First-flight details missing. The release doesn't give the first flight test's date or location, and the body doesn't state its week. (Divergent and CoAspire, Apr. 24, 2025)
No cost. "Affordable" is in the name, but no price is given; CoAspire asks buyers to contact it for pricing. (CoAspire RAACM page)
What we don't know yet: production rate, unit cost and Air Force plans for RAACM.

Our follow-up question for CoAspire

When and where was the RAACM flight test, and what is the target unit cost at rate?

Sources

CoAspire, “Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM),” product page. coaspire.com
CoAspire, “CoAspire had a very successful RAACM Test Flight on June 20, 2025.” coaspire.com
Divergent Technologies and CoAspire, “Divergent Delivers Affordable, Adaptable Cruise Missile Structures: Clean Sheet to First Flight in 16 Weeks,” PR Newswire, Apr. 24, 2025. prnewswire.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder