Ares Industries

What do they actually do

Ares Industries is an early-stage defense hardware startup developing low-cost, container-launchable cruise missiles. The team says they designed multiple prototypes and conducted flight tests in California’s Mojave Desert within 11 weeks of founding, with flight-testing reported this past summer YC and echoed in press coverage Fortune.

They publicly describe two concepts: Goose (about a 20 lb payload to roughly 100 miles) and Maverick (about a 100 lb payload to roughly 1,000 miles). Their website says these are intended for mass production at “five‑figure” unit prices, vertically launched from standard 20‑foot containers—up to 64 Goose rounds per container—and built with a mix of commercial components and in‑house subsystems Ares site.

They have not announced customer contracts or deployed systems. They are targeting U.S. and allied defense buyers and state they aim to deliver early working missile systems to first customers around mid‑2025, continuing an iterative cycle of prototyping, flight testing, and hardening for ground/ship launch first YC Fortune Ares site.

Who are their target customer(s)

• U.S. DoD program offices (Army, Navy, Air Force) buying strike munitions: They need lower-cost, mass-producible weapons to increase stockpiles, but face long qualification cycles, strict safety/interoperability requirements, and rigid procurement processes that slow adoption.
• Allied and partner governments lacking domestic long‑range strike production: They want exportable, fieldable systems that fit local logistics, but must navigate export controls, certification, and integration timelines before operational use.
• Forward‑deployed naval and ground units needing quickly deployable launch capability: They want munitions that can be stored, moved, and launched from standard containers to surge fires, but current options often require specialized launchers and complex logistics.
• Tactical commanders/planners seeking attritable swarm effects: They need many inexpensive, networked missiles where losses are acceptable, yet most precision weapons are too costly per shot and supply chains cannot support firing at scale.
• Procurement, budget, and logistics officers planning sustainment at scale: They require predictable unit costs and manufacturable designs with proven supply chains, but face uncertainty about a new vendor’s ability to deliver serial production and meet qualification standards.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Pursue paid evaluation contracts and on‑range live‑fire demos with fast‑adopter U.S. program offices and allied rapid‑acquisition units, using Mojave‑tested prototypes to validate performance and logistics YC Fortune.
• First 50: After successful demos, sell small production lots and turnkey containerized launch kits for evaluations and exercises, bundling short training and spares to reduce adoption friction and highlight fit with existing transport/storage Ares site.
• First 100: Shift to repeat-buy contract vehicles and partnerships with primes/integrators to win larger buys and meet qualification needs, while scaling production via simplified tooling and vertical integration to hit volume and cost targets Ares site YC.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Direct cruise‑missile TAM is commonly estimated in the low single‑digit to low double‑digit billions (e.g., ~$2–6B in 2024 depending on scope) MarkNtel TechSci. The broader precision‑guided munitions market is on the order of mid‑tens of billions (~$36.5B in 2024 per one tracker) GM Insights.

Bottom-up calculation:

Using Ares’ public "five‑figure" pricing and "hundreds of thousands" volume language, illustrative scenarios range from 10,000 units at $10k ($100M) to 250,000 units at $50k ($12.5B) in cumulative revenue potential, depending on price, volume, and market access Ares site.

Assumptions:

• Unit prices span roughly $10k–$50k depending on configuration and range/payload.
• Buyers treat Ares rounds as part of broader PGM/strike budgets, not only the narrow cruise‑missile line.
• Serial production, qualification, and export approvals are achieved to support multi‑year procurement.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• RTX (Raytheon) – Tomahawk: Incumbent U.S. Navy cruise missile with decades of integration and operational use; sets performance, reliability, and certification benchmarks.
• Lockheed Martin – JASSM/LRASM: Long‑range air‑launched strike missiles widely fielded and integrated with U.S. and allied platforms; strong program and supply‑chain maturity.
• MBDA – Storm Shadow/SCALP: European long‑range cruise missiles with combat use and multiple export customers; established integration across allied fleets.
• Kongsberg (with RTX) – Naval Strike Missile (NSM): Modern sea‑skimming anti‑ship/land‑attack missile adopted by multiple navies; containerizable coastal defense variants exist through partners.
• Kratos Defense: Focus on affordable, attritable unmanned systems and target drones (e.g., XQ‑58 Valkyrie) that overlap in low‑cost strike/attritable mission space.