WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin ( LMT )

plans to unveil a new "affordable" cruise missile on Monday with

a cost of about $150,000 and a range of over 500 miles (800 km)

as the defense contractor works to tap a U.S. need to deter

Chinese ambitions in the Pacific.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed U.S. and other

countries' thinking about armaments toward a new strategy known

as "affordable mass," meaning having plenty of relatively cheap

weapons at the ready.

The Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT) missile concept is a

new product that aims to develop a family of low-cost modular

weapons from Lockheed and its partners' existing catalog of

components.

The CMMT missile is designed to fill a gap between

lower-cost standoff glide weapons and more expensive cruise

missiles, Scott Callaway, Director, Affordable Mass, Lockheed

Martin Missiles and Fire Control told Reuters in a recent

interview.

If the Pentagon decides to buy the new offering, Callaway

said Lockheed could make 2,500 a year - once a production line

was running.

CMMT is "a subsonic, low-cost, long-range cruise missile,"

Callaway said. Its low-cost turbine engines cannot, however,

compete with cruise missiles such as Lockheed's AGM-158 Joint

Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.

The JASSM is a 1,000-pound missile costing over $1.5 million

per item.

The industrial scale of the war in Ukraine has highlighted

the necessity for deeper inventories of relatively inexpensive

weapons.

CMMT is designed to be modular, allowing for diverse

variants to meet various mission requirements.

These include a longer-range version - deployable from

aircraft like the C-17, fighters and bombers - as well as a

shorter-range version.

A maritime strike variant is also envisioned, potentially to

be employed in swarms with varying seeker mechanisms for greater

effectiveness.

Callaway said Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) was aiming to sell the basic

air vehicle for $150,000 per unit, which it considered

competitive.

The United States is amassing an arsenal of abundant and

easily-made anti-ship weapons as part of efforts to push back

against Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.